About the Purple Buddha Project, a cooperative in Cambodia that focuses on upcycling weapons of conflict into jewelry.

1. PURPLE BUDDHA PROJECT
The
B Y F O R R E S T C U R R A N
P R E S E N T I N G
A B O U T U S
/ O U R S T O R Y

2. As a kid, I never got to know what a summer break was like. My parents
we're determined that I learn about Japanese culture even though we
lived in the states, so from kindergarten to the end of high school, I
attended school in Texas, as well as in Japan during the summer for
three months out of every year. Because Texas culture is the polar
opposite of culture in Tokyo, I learned to be open as a youth in order to
balance the two worlds in my life.

3. Rebirth From Depression
I went to college like a lot of people, and I suppose like
many people, I found out that college wasn't all that I
expected. During this time I went through difficult times
and depression, and it was during this darker period
that I had started a personal blog called the Purple
Buddha Project as a personal antecedent of mine.

4. I felt a calling for me to travel the world,
and I hoped that self-created alone
time would help guide me back to the
happiness that I once knew. I listened
to the beat of my heart and knew it spoke
true, and so I set out on a backpacking
journey alone consisting of 365 days,
through 10 countries, in 57 cities,
sleeping in 3 airports during transit,
riding 107 buses, and creating countless
memories of a lifetime.

7. A year being alone trekking around
the world didn’t make me smarter or
give me more wisdom, but was a year
long effort into understanding what
happiness meant to me on a
personal level.

8. During my trip to Cambodia, I learned that Cambodia was one
of the most bombed countries in the history of mankind and
I kinda had a "WTF" moment. I learned about a group of
artisans who were designing jewelry from upcycled weapons
of conflict in this country. They were hard workers, but
lacked organization and modern day design input.
I felt like I could do something here.

9. The Return
A friend was the first to tell me
about Kickstarter shortly after
getting back home from my trip.
Being a 20 year old at the time
with no investors, no funds, and
in truth not too much of an idea
how to make my ideas into reality,
I figured why not? Thus the
upcycled weapons of conflict
jewelry became one with the
Purple Buddha Project.

10. T H E T U M B L R C O M M U N I T Y
S A W W H A T I W A S D O I N G A N D
I M M E D I A T E L Y G O T B E H I N D
M Y B A C K . I T W A S T R U L Y A
H U M B L I N G M O M E N T F O R M E
T O H A V E T H E S U P P O R T O F
S O M A N Y P E O P L E F R O M
F R O M A R O U N D T H E W O R L D
E S P E C I A L L Y A F T E R G O I N G
T H R O U G H Y E A R S O F
D E P R E S S I O N A N D S E L F ­
H A T E . I N O N E M O N T H W E
R A I S E D O V E R $ 2 0 , 0 0 0

11. Positivity Marketing
The project has largely been
successful due to our theory:
positivity is viral. Rather than with
traditional marketing of ads, we
focus on injecting positivity content
into social media, a place that has
increasingly become negative.

12. GROWING PROCESSOVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF YEARS I WAS FLYING BACK AND FORTH FROM
CAMBODIA DURING THE SUMMER BREAKS AND WINTER BREAKS OF COLLEGE
AND MORE OR LESS IT WAS TIME TO MAKE SOME TOUGH LIFE DECISIONS.
DROPPING OUT OF COLLEGE (MY DAD IS A PROFESSOR AS WELL) AND
TURNING DOWN A JOB THAT OFFERED ME FIVE TIMES WHAT I WAS MAKING
WITH THE PROJECT, I MADE CAMBODIA AND THE PROJECT MY LIFE.

13. And so, I went
through some of
the hardest &
most beautiful
times of my life.

14. After years of struggles
and countless tears, after
years of doubting and
questioning myself, and
years of depression; I was
really living the life I had
always dreamed of.

15. Growth is found in
pain and hurt
Overall I haven’t changed much
from the giddy kid on his first
backpacking trip, but what I will say
is that I am a much more happier
person today because of the risks I
took. I live a most fulfilling life with
the good and bad that happens in a
third world country, and feel most
blessed to be doing what I do
today. If I’ve learned anything over
the years, it is that your true path
lies in what you fear to do.

16. “IN THE END THESE THINGS
MATTER MOST: HOW WELL
DID YOU LOVE? HOW FULLY
DID YOU LIVE? HOW DEEPLY
DID YOU LET GO?”
- B U D D H A
P U R P L E B U D D H A P R O J E C T