Inspired by Emily Chu, artist for Kollidescopic Creations

We wanted to write about inspiring people and now we are more determined than ever to do so since we had the chance to meet incredible people along the way. We have many surprises for you this fall so stay tuned :)

Today we will introduce you an amazing young girl, that made a great impression on us, and her unique project and we hope you will enjoy her story as much as we did.

Her name is Emily Chu, she is not a famous painter... yet but she is definitely a "one of a kind" person and we are happy to share her story with you.

Will by Emily Chu

During an online meeting via Google Hangout, Emily shared with us some of these incredible experiences and she left us speechless.

She was born in Taiwan and at the age of six she moved to Seattle, USA together with all her family. She likes to travel a lot, to meet new people and to discover new cultures. While she was still in high school, she went to Japan and Thailand as a volunteer. 

Hope by Emily Chu

Afterwards she got involved in an entrepreneurship program and she travelled to Italy and Greece where she discovered a new lifestyle, so different from what she has experienced before. After finishing high school in Seattle, she went to college in Malibu, California where she graduated a bachelor in International Business.

Another childish game we play by Emily Chu

According to Emily, the years in college shaped her personality and the professors she had, really helped her find her passion and follow her own path. She had the honour to have Tom Shadyac, the movie director of the documentary I Am (we strongly recommend to watch the movie)  as a professor, who turned out to be a great mentor and an amazing life coach preaching self awareness.

She continued her self-development journey and she went to Argentina where she spent 4 months as an international exchange student. There she was faced again with a different culture, influenced by the local economic, social and political context.

Upon her return from Argentina, she got accepted for an internship within United Nations in Washington D.C where she was part of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. Despite her excitement and her willingness to change the world she realised one more time that all these developing countries are facing too many problems which could not be tackled by an "intern".

The illusion of stillness by Emily Chu

Because of her ambition to do something valuable and worthwhile she got enrolled in two different law programs when she returned from Washington.  Firstly she participated in "Global Justice Program" and later on she joined "Micro Enterprise Program" where she had met incredible people that will inspire her later on to pursue her passion for art and to give birth to an amazing project called "Kollidescopic Creations".

Beau by Emily Chu

Basically this program was providing life coaching courses to homeless people from Skid Row, a small city in L.A. Additionally, they were giving business and entrepreneurship classes to those interested in pursuing a career in this field. Here, Emily recalls meeting people that have touched her as she says: " They were so ambitious to change the course of their lives, they set their priorities right, they knew exactly what they wanted to do with their future and above all they CARED about everything". And then she realized that she wants to care too, that she wants to make a change as well... and so she did.

Recently she came up with this great project Kollidescopic Creations. Emily has a great passion for painting and encouraged by people who believe in her and in her talent, she decided to use this gift to paint unique works of art inspired by the life story of 10 random people around the world. After only one week from the launch of the project, she has already found 10 participants who will share their life experiences for this creative cause. They have nothing in common with each other, they were born in different parts of the world, they speak different languages, and they were raised according to different cultures and religions. In other words, they are unique and so are their life stories. You may find the list of participants here

For more information about the project and the motivation behind this idea, we invite you to watch the emotional video prepared by Emily  here.

Samantha by Emily Chu

We believe in this project, we believe in Emily's talent, and we believe that her extraordinary passion and motivation may change the way people perceive art and that somehow the average life story of a person can inspire an amazing work of art.

If you wish to support Emily, please take a look at the link above and check on KickStarter how you can participate. Of course, don't forget to share it on your social networks.

You can find more updates about the project also on this platform: http://myinfinitybox.com/ which was launched a few days ago. This platform was created to support the entrepreneurs, artists and individuals to connect and learn from each other by sharing about the things they care about.

We hope you enjoyed her story, that you feel somehow inspired to follow your passion, to care about the people around you and about the things you do, and from time to time please DARE to be different.

Love,

Laura&Elena

PS: Images above have been provided by Emily.

Postcards from Spain

The summer holiday is officially over now that the brunette half of the blog has also returned in Brussels. Autumn is here and like in every year we are not only preparing to celebrate our birthdays (yeah it's Libra time) but we are also getting ready for the next challenges and the new experiences that we hope will bring us one step closer to our dreams.

But before talking about the next season and our plans for the fall, the brunette half of the blog wants to share with you some memories from an amazing event organised annually in the Community of Valencia called "Las Fiestas de Moros y Cristianos".

I go to Spain every year to spend some days with my family, to enjoy the Spanish hot weather, the Spanish fiestas and the delicious Paella Valenciana. I guess Spain is by far my favourite destination for holiday because there I always manage to disconnect from my world, to relax, to gather my thoughts, to laugh loud and have fun with my beloved ones.

This year for the first time, I witnessed the local holiday of the "Moros y Cristianos" in Villena, a small town in the south-east of Spain, a place full of history and charm. "Las Fiestas de Villena" as they are named by the locals are among the most important events of the year and they last for 6 days. During these days, the city never sleeps. Unforgettable parties and fabulous shows are organised both during the day and the night.

The heart of  the "Fiestas de Moros y Cristianos" is represented by "La Reconquista", as it is named by the historians. "La Reconquista" has been a long period of war and fights between the christians and the muslims who have invaded the territory of the Iberian Peninsula in the Middle Ages. In the end, the christians won and Spain and Portugal became independent from the Islamic Rule.

During the "Fiestas de Moros y Cristianos" the locals dress up as muslims and christians and they march along the streets of the city accompanied by a local band playing medieval music. In the first day, the festivities are opened by the locals dressed up as muslims evoking the old times when the arabic people from North Africa invaded the city and conquered the Castle of Atalaya. In the second day, during "Cabalgata" the locals dressed up as christians open the ceremony as a sign of the "Reconquista" and they are followed by the others disguised in contrabandists, pirates and muslims. Every year, special costumes with feathers, fur, metallic helmets, and armour are designed for each parade, transforming the event into an unique, fabulous and unforgettable experience. Below you may see some of the photos I took. For me it was an amazing experience and I hope I will get to live it again next year.

Love,
Laura&Elena

InstaWEEK

Right about now, while I, from the depths of my bed I am writing this post, the brunette half of the blog is sunbathing on one of the Spain's marvelous beaches probably carefree sipping a chilled cocktail. Indeed, my vacation is over while her's is just beginning (call that fair, huh!). But let's be fair, to be stuck in Brussels this time of the year it's not that bad. We still have some sun, it's not yet freezing cold and if we are as lucky as the weather forecast indicates, there might be some beach time next week.

While waiting for novelties from us, be sure to follow me on Instagram @laurarcgstaff. Here's a little something that you're going to see if you decide to check out my profile:

#HelloWorld

                                                                        #LovelyViewOverBrussels

                                                                        #StrollingAroundTheCity

                                                                    #GiftsShopping
                                                                    While gifts shopping for a friend's birthday found this cute book

                                                                     #StrollingAroundTheCityPart2
                                                                     To be paired with this

                                                                       #GiftsShopping2
And this to serve as inspiration for the next ALCHIMIE collection. By the way, use the C1ALC1   promo code here to get a 20€ discount on all items!

                                                                         #Friday
                                                                         My favorite day of the week!

                                                                         #SandInMyShoes
                                                                         Snapshot from when life was all about flip flops and late mornings...

Love,
Laura&Elena