Finding What Felt Real
I’ve always loved writing by hand.
There’s something about paper—the sound, the texture—that feels more real than a phone screen.
After my daughter was born, I wanted to record her growing moments and the quiet changes I felt in myself along the way.
But I couldn’t find a journal I loved. Most were plain, leather-bound, or too formal.
I wanted something softer and warmer, something I could decorate the way I decorate my home, with small details that make it feel alive.
One afternoon, I met a friend at Starbucks.
As we chatted, she peeled off the small paper sticker from her coffee cup and pressed it into her notebook.
I smiled and asked, “Why that?”
She said she had just become a mom too and had started keeping little pieces of her everyday life, moments that made her smile.
That moment felt so familiar. We both realized we were looking for the same thing: a place to keep the simple, beautiful fragments of life that often go unnoticed.
Over time, we began sharing ideas, sketching what our dream journal might look like, and that’s how our partnership quietly began.
Learning to Let Go
When we looked online, we found all kinds of journaling—heavy planning, complicated layouts, endless tools.
We tried to follow, but the more we watched, the more anxious we felt.
It became too much about perfection and too little about presence.
Then one weekend, I took my daughter out for a picnic.
The air was soft and golden, and a ginkgo leaf floated down beside us.
She picked it up, laughing, waving it in the sunlight.
In that moment, I wanted to keep it—not just the leaf, but the feeling of that afternoon.
When we got home, I printed a photo, pressed the leaf into my notebook, and wrote a few lines from the heart.
I didn’t plan it or think too much. I just let it happen, natural and real.
It wasn’t perfect, but it felt wonderful.
That was when I realized it was never about perfection.
It was about being here, noticing, and holding the moment.
Where Ginkkoo Began
That little ginkgo leaf became the seed of our name, Ginkkoo, a quiet reminder of presence, of slowing down, and of finding beauty in small things.
It marked the beginning of what we hope Ginkkoo will always be: a space for slow, mindful living.
For people who want to slow down, feel, and build their own small world—one page, one charm, one moment at a time.
Hold your moments.