Happy Halloween!
Alchemy is one of my favorite words. I distinctly remember the first time I saw it. I was in middle school playing a stunning fantasy video game on my Game Boy Advance called Golden Sun. In a nutshell, the game is about eight young people on a quest to save their world. The word Alchemy came up to describe how their realm is stabilized by the four elements: water, earth, wind, and fire. Somehow, the term stuck with me.
I was a weird kid that had asked for an unabridged dictionary for Christmas, so I went digging into it, looking up the word and many things associated with it. I had learned that it was the precursor to modern chemistry, and that its core concepts revolve around transforming base materials into more valuable matter such as gold. In other cases, the goal was to create an elixir of life to cure death, or an elixir that could eradicate disease.
To this day, Alchemy is a word that stays with me because it has evolved to also mean (according to American-Webster): a power or process that changes or transforms something in a mysterious or impressive way.
This philosophy can apply to anything in the art of crafts. How many times have we watched a family member transform meager vegetables and meat scraps into the most spectacular stew? Or watch a grandmother crochet her heart out to create the most impressive blanket? Perhaps you have seen a blacksmith mold scarlet iron into a spoon or knife. Perchance you witnessed glass being blown into the form of a wine bottle.
In my experience, I’ve seen all of these occur, inspiring me to be highly appreciative of the work, expertise, and care that is put into anything humans create.
Transformation—Alchemy—is incredible, especially when fulfilled through our own two hands. I cherish the skills of crafters and artists everywhere who have maintained humanity through their crafts. Our skills as humans are invaluable, despite what technology and artificial intelligence might say. Sure tech can perform better in the short term. However when technology malfunctions, it is human minds and hands that take up the slack.
And so, I write this diary to document my own alchemy: whether I am transforming natural ingredients into a spectacular feast, or weaving threads into fabric. Upon reading my humble words, hopefully we will all learn something along the way!
The Alchemist Diaries 
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