”Fearful, idealistic and passionate” three words that have a strong meaning for Chiara Fachin. Even when she feels vulnerable her strong beliefs, her values and her passions encourage her to stand still and push her forward. She learned early in time that fear is not a barrier but a signal. “When I feel fear in doing something I stop and I try to understand the reason why, usually is a limit of myself that I want to overcome’’.
Being around Chiara means accepting that you will never be bored since she has an existential crisis approximately once a month: “Who am I?’’ is a question she does not like to answer. Not because she avoids self-reflection, but because she feels that her human being is in constant evolution and, therefore, she does not want to be put in labelled static boxes in which people expect to find her and remain unchanged.
She does, however, embrace one truth: she is emotional, feeling a strong emotional flow that she manages to come out in a balanced way. “Especially in moment of tension being balanced is useful, but in other occasion It is a problem since I end up putting someone else feelings before mine’’. Her attitude is kind, attentive, and often self-sacrificing, a trait that reveals both her strength and fragility.
“When I think about the period I moved to Barcelona, not the best memories come to mind, but once I changed school, I got to know some of the people I call best friends nowadays’’. Chiara moved to Barcelona with her family from Spilimbergo, a small city in the North of Italy, when she was ten years old. The vibrant Spanish city took part in her process of learning that identity is not fixed, and it was for her the demonstration that stepping in the unknown can offer the greatest opportunities even if at the beginning feels terrifying.
But let’s deep dive into the reasons why of talking about Chiara.
Because Chiara carries a strong resentment on behalf of how the world is going. She wants to be part of a positive change, in particular, to give a voice to all the people involved in conflicts that most often are seen just as numbers and statistics on a television. For her exploring what were their life, who were they before the conflict, who did love, what dreams where interrupted, what fears kept them awake at night, would be her way to give the world back a glimpse of humanity, especially in contexts marked by war but not only.
Students disappearing because of the police took them outside Utrecht for days because they wanted them to stop occupying the university was one of the moments in which Chiara lived on her own skin the consequences of the Israeli Palestinian conflict. “During my last year in Utrecht, I was involved in the diversity council of the program where I was able to organize talks between students directly involved in the encampments for Palestine and the faculty members to address the police brutality students had face’’. In fact, her studies focused on International Relations firstly at Utrecht University where she spent three years and then, at the University of Amsterdam where she spent her last year before moving to Rome.
Her desire to create an impact is rooted in the beliefs she holds that meaningful change requires courage. Throughout her life she has repeatedly chosen paths that scared her, fear has accompanied in many of her decision functioning as a wave for a surfer.
Finally, you can find her dancing while facing life. Tango. Broadway Jazz. Any dance that allows emotions to become movement. Call her if you want to have a class with her, it would be the moment in which you would find the authentic Chiara.
So, if you really want to meet Chiara, don’t stop at her biography. Meet her on a dance floor: embracing uncertainty and moving forward away with her.
