The Reason I, a Former Ordinary Office Worker, Became a Stone Dealer

Nice to meet you.
I am Sho, the operator of the natural stone shop SELSHA. I usually work by traveling to places like Thailand, China, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka to select and sell natural stones. However, I wasn't always in the stone business.

In fact, I used to be a very ordinary office worker. My Japanese wasn't very good yet, and I didn't have any special talents. Honestly, I wasn't the type of person who had much self-confidence. In this note, I would like to write about why I became a stone dealer and what I realized after encountering stones.

Growing up as an "outsider"

When I was nine, I moved from China, where I was born and raised, to Japan. When I was in elementary school, rather than studying, I spent all my time thinking about how to avoid being bullied. Attending a Japanese school as a Chinese person was by no means easy. The language and culture were different. Even as a child, I felt that I was someone different from those around me.

Even after I entered the workforce, that feeling persisted somewhere. At the office, I always felt like I was a bit of an outlier.

People around me looked at me with a sense of wonder because I left work on time. I was even reprimanded once for taking paid leave combined with consecutive holidays. Thinking back, maybe that wasn't anything special. But for me at the time,

I felt like I was somewhat of an "outsider."

That is why I always thought:
I have to work harder than others.
I have to prove my worth.

Thinking that way,
I was always driving myself forward.

I thought I had to change myself

In my 20s, wanting to "change myself more," I became attracted to the world of self-improvement. I participated in events by Anthony Robbins and James Skinner, and read many books.

There, they said things like

"People can change"
and "You can design your own life."

Those words were very powerful, and to me at the time, they felt like hope.

I want to grow more.
I want to be a more excellent person.
I want to be more successful.

In the world of self-improvement,
it is often said:

If you work hard, you can become more excellent.
If you take action, you can be more successful.

Of course, that is not wrong.

But looking back now, I feel that back then I was only looking at

"the self that is not enough yet"
and "the self that must change more."

I was always
struggling to become a perfect human being.

The reason I wasn't evaluated in a "world of correct answers"

Actually, my score on the modern Japanese section of the university entrance exam was 5 points.
The reason is simple: I was the type of person who read texts based on my "own interpretation." Modern Japanese exams are tests to correctly read the author's intent. In other words, there is a correct answer. But back then, I would read texts thinking, "This is how it looks to me" or "This is how I feel." That is why I couldn't get points on the exam.

At the time, I thought, "I am a person who is bad at Japanese."

What stones taught me

Time passed, I got married, and had children. There is no right answer to raising children, and children are free in every way. I spend my days fulfilled, even while being kept on my toes by them every day.

Then one day, while gazing at natural stones, I suddenly thought.

A garden-like landscape spreading inside a crystal.
Inclusions spreading like mist.
A world where a single crystal stands tall like ice.

In the world of natural stones, other minerals can enter the stone, which we call inclusions, and no two are ever the same.

I realized that people are the same.

And the way those landscapes are perceived differs from person to person.
Even with the same stone, some see a garden, while others see mist.

There is no right answer! All that exists is that person's own 'perspective'.

That was when I thought:
Perhaps I had been looking toward a 'world of landscapes' all along, rather than a 'world of right answers'.

Human beings also possess a one-of-a-kind landscape.

Everyone inevitably has flaws or complexes.
But perhaps we don't need to force ourselves to erase them.
Perhaps they are part of that person's unique landscape, too.
Since I started thinking that way, the way I look at stones has changed a little.

I have handled various gemstones, but in the world of gemstones where the absence of impurities is considered perfect, I have come to feel drawn to stones with personality that are not perfect.

The choice of SELSHA

Now, I run a natural stone shop called SELSHA. The name SELSHA comes from an Irish word that means 'freedom'.

Even among natural stones with the same name, no two have the same expression. That is the most interesting part of this world.

I have experienced several jobs in the past, including manufacturing, hospitality, and real estate. Finally, I quit being a company employee and started a job selecting stones from around the world with my own eyes. Currently, while living in Thailand with my family, I walk through natural stone markets to select stones, delivering the one-of-a-kind landscape that each stone possesses.

Finally, about the 'landscape' that also exists within you

There is no such thing as a perfect human being, and everyone has a slightly different landscape.

But that is exactly why it is interesting!

If you are reading this article and
you are feeling a little lost right now, or
you don't have confidence in yourself,
I believe that too is
just your own unique landscape.

I will continue to search for 'the landscape unique to that stone' among stones from all over the world. And I would be happy if I could share the fascination of this world little by little with people who love such unique stones.

I plan to continue writing slowly about the world of stones, my daily life searching for stones overseas, and the things I am thinking about.

If something catches your heart somewhere, I would be happy if you would come and take a peek again.