Saving Starfish
New Year edition
“You can't save them all, so why bother trying? Why does it matter, anyway?”
"Well, it matters to this one..."
***
2025 was not humanity’s best moment.
If you’re one who pays attention to current events (can’t blame you if you don’t), you already know this, and you carry the weight of it in your bones.
Should we list the endless examples? Or can we just sigh and nod together as the disquiet pulses through our collective psyche? I’ll save us all a bit of trouble: we can.
As bad as it was, 2025 still may have unintentionally left behind a few sparks of hope for 2026…
This morning, long before first light, one such spark took the form of a writing prompt—which apparently is a thing I need now to silence the infinite distractions constantly vying for attention.
Thanks to Jancee Dunn (and a bunch of other smart people) for a year-end thought experiment that stopped me from scrolling and started me thinking:
What is worth remembering from 2025?
Cue the hours-long montage titled “Things Worth Forgetting From 2025.” As they flash by, a pattern emerges that can be labeled as:
Things that “can’t happen here” happening here, every day
Events entirely out of our control controlling us via our many screens
Tree fires set by arsonists to keep us from noticing the wildfire smoke concealing the forest
Sorry, we digress…could you repeat the question?
What is worth remembering from 2025?
Right. You know what? Because context is everything, we’re going to save this question for last. Skipping ahead…
When did you feel the most joyful and carefree?
This one is easy: I’m at my best when I’m working at the bookstore. When it’s crowded and people are lobbing questions at me and we’re talking about where we live and where we’re from and whether I’ve read this book and do we have that book and do I have any recommendations and things are hitting the floor and don’t worry, it happens every day and yes our other passion project is an equine rescue organization and suddenly it’s eight hours later and I am entirely drained of life and I can’t wait to come back tomorrow and do it all over again because it is a rush. Every time.
Thankfully, there’s a coffee shop right next door—because while the aloha is real, research shows that caffeine is the aloha precursor that makes the day vibe.
Related: I used to laugh a lot. During random conversations, watching TV, running errands, just, you know, anywhere any time. As time passed, though, I noticed that the laughs were fewer and farther between. Then 2016 happened, and things took a turn for the morose.
Something happened, though, in the eight months our little bookstore has been open: the laughter returned. I attribute this to the arrival of book people in our lives. They’re curious and smart and surprising in ways that keep me on my toes trying to keep up. It’s an experience akin to travel, except in this case the locals and the travelers come to us, and the laughter just..happens. Like it’s supposed to.
As you can imagine, this is a really welcome development.
What seemed impossible — but you did it anyway?
Started research and writing on not one but two novel projects. A smart person with very little discretionary time might’ve considered tackling one. Hahaha, I’m not that smart. The good news: so far the enthusiasm hasn’t waned. The bad news: additional discretionary time has not magically appeared, nor does it seem likely to.
What gave you energy — and what drained it?
5 a.m. reading, writing, and research. I don’t know why I wake up so early, or why my little brain immediately jumps into the deep end, but I’m now getting things done a couple hours earlier than ever. This habit inevitably leads to…
A nap before afternoon feeding, aka “snores before chores.”
News from the continent. The people nominally in charge are energy vampires. For the sake of my mental health I’ve drastically cut down on the endless accounts of their barbarism. I need no further convincing. In the meantime, staying focused on the work in front of me has become a useful survival tactic.
Undone tasks. It’s impossible to prioritize everything all at once all the time around here—things fall off the back of the truck every day. Sometimes literally. Over time, undone tasks take on their own gravitational mass—but at this point it’s obvious that some of them will just have to stay undone.
What habit, if you did it more consistently, would have a positive effect on your life?
This one is easy (Part II): running. I’m at my best when I get in 25 miles a week, at whatever speed is manageable. Full disclosure: it’s been too long since I put together a 25-mile week. For excuses, see bookstore, equine rescue, book projects, and a complementary lack of quality sleep.
What did you try to control that was actually outside your control?
As a starting point, everything is out of our control. This is true for everyone. That said, a daily routine can still be a really useful thing. Being able to complete everyday tasks efficiently without needing to be mentally present is a huge time-saver. But when co-workers start their morning being unruly and uncooperative, the day spins off its axis in a hurry.
To be fair, our colleagues are creatures of habit. Their behavior (and our efficiency) improves dramatically when they have a fixed routine. Repeatedly feeding them in the same place, for example, teaches them that the sooner they get to their bowls, the sooner they get fed.
Unfortunately, the persistent drought on the Hāmākua Coast of Hawai’i Island persists. As a result, our once-lush pastures are down to the nub, forage-wise, requiring us to rotate the herd to a different pasture every couple of weeks. To say this is disruptive is an understatement—picture two humans running around trying to impose order on hangry horses who are ready to dine literally anywhere but in their new digs. Wheee!
Control is an illusion. We may aspire to it, but due to the infinite variables that insist on combining in infinite ways, it is always out of our reach.
Is there anyone you need to forgive in 2026?
No.
(okay, that might be…not entirely true.)
There are…a few people? A couple, maybe? Okay, one. One person. But since I’m stubborn, I’m holding out for an apology. The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward repeating the same behavior over and over and over…
On an entirely different level—orders of magnitude different—there’s the people who caused worldwide distress throughout 2025. Distress is the wrong word; these people caused death and destruction and despair in 2025, and they did it deliberately. Their intention is to continue this crime wave against humanity in 2026 and beyond, until somebody stops them. In this instance, the arc of the moral universe is long, and it bends toward a reckoning.
***
With the aforementioned in mind (and gratitude that you made it this far):
What is worth remembering from 2025?
It’s worth remembering we live in an imperfect world. This has always been the case, despite the nonstop and futile efforts of humans to “perfect” it.
There is hope in Newton’s Third Law. Despite the efforts of some people to negate science, actions still have equal and opposite reactions.
Complex systems, like living creatures, are unpredictable. They resist change, often for good reason: unintended consequences are inevitable. Still, if you find a starfish on the beach, you should definitely throw it back in the water.
Because 2025 happened, 2026 WILL be a wild ride. It may not hurt to prepare for it by being (slightly) insane.
I mentioned the idea of running a 50k to a friend, and she wanted to know if I'm crazy. In fact, I believe her exact words were, "Are you crazy?"
I may be crazy. I mean, it's entirely possible. But I'm getting to the point in life where the occasional crazy is entirely called-for.
Once you've done what once seemed crazy, it becomes sane, then passé. So, you do something different. Something more. Something crazier. And so on. Because, let’s face it: if you want different results, you have to do things differently.
Here’s to a different 2026.
Like, really different.
But in the best possible way.