Only.

It went from 9am to 8pm. And it was awesome. I wrote about it in another post. During the event, some of us were interviewed with specific questions, which this video is about. That was very surprising for me, but luckily, I’ve been thinking about many parts of life – one could say philosophy – and the questions went into that territory.

*The toxicity.”

I love negative things. Yes, weird, I know. But I came to the realization that it’s the bad things that make us grow. I’ve been exposed to a certain toxicity for over 8 years now, and I can personally attest to that.

Resilience.

Toxicity creates resilience (if it doesn’t kill you). It’s such a common theme in nature, I don’t think I have to explain how it works. It does work in our minds, too. It can be good, and it can be bad. It can make us numb and simply unresponsive, blocking it out. Or it can make us aware and able to handle the toxins. In the first, we stagnate, in the second, we grow. And obviously it’s not applicable in any situation.

Some toxins are just too strong.

I learned that, too. Luckily, only by observing other people. Until now, I was able to overcome my personal hardships and “learning opportunities”, and I hope it stays that way. But I’ve seen people break and not being able to heal. Like the case of the toxicity in my life. It will probably stay like that forever, and although it fills me with sadness, it’s not my burden to bear. Mine is to handle the toxins caused by it in a way that doesn’t cause further damage and protects everyone involved in the best way possible.

The variety.

There are many forms of toxins in life. NuevoSol had just experienced one, almost one year ago, when the owner died. She was head and toes of the company, and suddenly everything was chaos. Chaos can be toxic. Grief can be toxic. Desperation is toxic.

Come together.

I think that the show was a healing moment for the company as well. It was for Ellie and Ducrecio. So many of our friends coming together to not only celebrate what in parts was the owner’s last collection, but also welcoming something new. Their own creations. Their own styles. The birth of a new era after suddenly being thrown from “normal” jobs into management roles, having to step up, giving everything to keep the company alive, sacrificing so much.

Closure.

A new chapter has begun for them, for the whole company. Everything is going into the right direction now, from what I can see. Decision by decision, their hard work and resilience in the last year is paying off. Not by paying huge amounts of money to professionals, but keeping the spirit of the company, working with friends and use creativity and passion to make up for what lacked in financials.

They chose to grow.

And it shows. I’m so happy. It feels like this is a time of friends working their way towards success, absolutely deserving so.

If you'd like to support their endeavor, here are the social media links - every view and like counts in those weird algorithms...

Original Reel: Facebook and Instagram
Facebook: Click here
Instagram: Click here

Website: www.nuevosol.co

This. Was. AMAZING!

Last Saturday, we met among many friends at NuevoSol, a clothing factory close to my town, Cotacachi. They create everything by hand. Half a year ago, the owner suddenly died, and Ellie and her brother were suddenly in charge - an abrupt change for them. Assuming that responsibility is a big thing in my eyes. Living up to it even more. The owner, Jan, had worked on a collection of prints and shapes, but was not able to finish it. One thing that Ellie and her brother wanted to accomplish this year was paying tribute to Jan through the launching of the new collection, honoring what Jan had created, but beautifully completed by the two of them.

With a very low budget, and high aspirations, they went on. One part was to ask friends of all shapes, ages and gender to join in a catwalk, wearing the collection. And almost everyone came. For me, another great example of the great community that we have created over the years here in Cotacachi. How the friendships have expended, the net that was spun over more than a decade now.

Just look at them. None of us is a professional. None of us was really knowing what to do. We got a crash course, played dress up and just had a blast imitating all those fancy fashion shows - but here, in a very small town in #ecuador, in a little factory that paints all their clothing by hand. Nothing fancy you might think, but in these days, friends coming together to help out some of theirs is, unfortunately, to be seen as "fancy", something of the highest grade, something unusual. Especially when it was around 11h of presence required.

There was no pay, but we are allowed to choose a piece per model. It was a first show, so somewhat chaotic. But Ellie and her brother just gave it all, it was clear that this collection, involving Jan's last ideas before she passed in May, contains all their heart. All that effort, the long nights designing, combining, creating - it all came together in this collection, and it doesn't only show, it feels like it. In every fiber.

We came together not only to help, but to celebrate our friends and their work. Their dedication. Their dream. To support them, just like they would support us. This was a community effort, and that, too, shows. There was so much synergy among us, so much fun, joking. It was vitalizing. It was really hard for me to wipe that smile out of my face and be serious for the cameras. And yet, caught me with a smile in one moment - it was inevitable.

I had so much fun that day. I took the role of what we call "ass for everything" in Germany - I made coffee, built a playlist for the make-up room, then another for the catwalk, ran errands, comforted Ellie when the stress was overwhelming. Whatever needed to be done, I did. And I modeled, oh my, did I model! I always loved acting, pretending to be a real model was actually quite fun, and I really got into that role. You can see me in three outfits in this video (if you spot all of them, let me know, and I'll send you a little gift), doing my most serious performance in a long time. The last time I was seriously acting was around 20 years ago, in high school, performing in "Dance of the Vampires."

I'm incredibly grateful for the community I have, friends that support each other. It's a privilege.

I'm so happy for my girlfriend and her brother. They deserve success for all their hard work.

This is just the beginning. The first of hopefully many collections.

(If you're interested, here are the social links: Website ; Facebook ; Instagram )

Friday was a slow day. Incredibly rainy and cold, and besides my buddy Dave, the guitarist that I host the jam sessions with, no other musicians came. Just other friends to listen a little. We played the usual: Neil Young, Stones, even tempered a little with "Hit me baby one more time" - but without a real singer, it as much fun as usual - the audience didn't mind though, they were busy talking, anyway (never a good sign :-D ).

We were just finishing our last song and call it a night, when Damian, a fellow parent from Lily's school, showed up with his friends and band. Since I'm the one organizing these events, I asked the owners of the restaurant if they would donate 10% of the income in the evening to the school. It's not much, but over time, it adds up - and for that, I also asked the parents to drop by from time to time and make some music with us, as it's for the benefit of the whole community.

And so they did. They were in an excellent mood, and after a couple of ginger shots (a delicious spirit), they were just getting more and more into it. They played mainly traditional indigenous songs (they're all Kichwa), but also a few pop songs adapted to their traditional instruments.

This video is a medley of several songs of which I don't know the names, nor the songtexts. Plus, it's recorded with a cellphone and sent through Whatsapp, so the quality of the video and sound isn't the best. It was so much more impressive as a live show.

They stayed around until after midnight, and while everyone was already going to bed, they kept going. They were also the best clients of that night, I'm sure of that. I always love to see how music can get people together, and get them going with such energy and happiness.

_____

What are your thoughts about this topic? Please feel free to engage in any original way, including dropping links to your posts on similar topics. I'm happy to read (and curate) any quality content that is not created by LLM/AI, as well as read your own experience and point of view, I love to learn!