IN BETWEEN DREAMS & REALITY — Everyone has a story worth telling

"It’s not really about whether you have the privilege to do so, it’s whether you’re willing to sacrifice for what you want"

Ever since she was a little girl, Laura aspired to be a painter. Caught in the stress of school life, she opted to put her dreams on hold in pursuit of further education. It was only until university did she pick up her brushes again.

Understanding that Hong Kong is a commercialised city with little room for artists to thrive, she chose not to take up art. Graduating as a finance major, she took a job where she worked as a financial analyst for a year and a half.

"When I came back to Hong Kong from the US with a finance degree, it was very natural to me to apply for jobs that were related to finance that was something that my parents expected me to do when I got back."

She decides to shift gears and transfer to a social media marketing position in hopes of getting a job closer to what she wants to pursue. Unsatisfied, she quits her post after 2 years and takes the leap to chase after ambitions head on.

3 months in, her parents became more vocal about their concerns about her unemployment situation considering their initial stance over the matter. It did not help that commission work and freelance jobs weren't enough to to support her livelihood.

"My parents could see me struggling especially my mom and she would say “if you just go out there, get a job, even as an admin you get 15K to sit in your pocket.""

Driven by the need to prove herself, she becomes more active in looking for greater opportunities when she discovers a chance at Linkedin. There she was given creative freedom as long as she included actions and elements representing Hong Kong.

Based on the theme "daring to dream", she includes fabricated elements from a peak tram with a dragon body and a panda playing chess with two men.

"The reason why I included all these childish elements was that I wanted people to look at them and remind themselves what it’s like to dream. We aren’t strangers to dreaming, ever since we were little we were so used to that. Once we grew up, we’re either too busy to dream or we’re just afraid."

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Out of her respect towards Linkedin and their work culture, she takes it to another level by making the mural interactive by creating the artwork black and white, allowing the staff to fill in the colours.

“For me, art if done well can be a very fun and great way to connect people, build community and inspire.”

Throughout the whole process, she tried to reassure her parents and bring them to an understanding that she can make ends meet. By the completion of the mural, she showed them pictures of the piece and was touched by how proud they were. Despite her strong belief in herself she still feels better with her parents recognition.

"With their acknowledgement, it makes me feel more loved and it makes me feel like what I’m doing is worth my time"

Since then, she's taken up more mural projects and even conducted a crowdfunding campaign for the Christmas cards she designed where 10% of the proceeds went to PathFinders.

"I did a crowdfunding campaign and through this campaign, I met a circle of women who were really willing to help and willing to offer their networks to me. For that, I’m very lucky."

When asked where she sees herself in 10 years, she replied with:

“I see myself being more active in the artistic world on top off a full-time that would take a lot of my time. Hopefully I would get the opportunity to work with individuals who are as creative or as eager to explore human potentials as I am, if not more. That would be the major direction.”

To those who are struggling to dream, she has this to say:

"Take the time to think about what you want to do in your life. The whole passion thing is overrated sometimes but it’s not something you should take lightly. Because we really are going to be in this world for a short period of time."