Writing a story is not so different from creating a piece of jewelry. Both begin with something almost intangible: a memory, an image, an emotion, a glimmer of light. Through patience, intuition, and many quiet revisions, that first impulse gradually acquires form. What once existed only in the imagination becomes something we can hold, wear, and perhaps one day pass on.
The tale I wrote was born from my friendship with the founder of Magmei, from her journey, and from the way she sees jewelry: not merely as ornament, but as a trace of memory, poised between dream and reality. I wanted to place a little of her sensibility within its pages—her determination, her curiosity, and certain qualities that have made our friendship so precious to me.
Yet I never intended to create a faithful portrait. No person can be contained within a single story. Like a material shaped by time, each of us continues to change, revealing new facets as life unfolds.
And so, Ming-Jou came into being—a little girl whom we follow into adulthood as she searches for her vocation and discovers an unexpected friendship. I shaped her as one might shape a jewel—beginning with a few fragments, bringing them together, and returning to them repeatedly until a character, and eventually an entire world, emerged.
Freely inspired by the life of Magmei, the tale transforms lived experience into an imaginary fable for children and adults alike. It is neither a biography nor a lesson disguised as a story. My wish was simply to open a passage into wonder: a place where the poetry of everyday life could meet the mystery of becoming, and where readers might recognize something of their own dreams.
This is perhaps the alchemy shared by storytelling and jewelry: both give lasting form to what might otherwise disappear. A memory becomes a character; an intuition becomes a jewel; a dream becomes tangible.
Everything began with friendship and an idea. From that first spark, a new creation found its way into the world.