Interview with Bhavani:
- Tell us about your organization!
I am the Founder of Chronically Driven where we share real stories by real people on the positive ways their incurable diagnosis has transformed their lives for the better. It is an attempt at bringing invisible disabilities to the forefront of mainstream media. We have been officially running for a year now and have gathered support from a number of different organisations such as The British Council, The RSA (Royal Society for the Arts), The Huffington Post & Near Now Studios.
- What drove you to make this organization?
People don’t realize when they see me that I have 3 different incurable, chronic conditions that pretty much dominate my life. Now, I could let them dominate my life into a spiral of negativity or harness it to grow to greater heights – I chose to do the latter. I often get asked by my friends & family on how I manage to do as much as I do in both my professional & personal life leading to numerous recommendations from everyone wanting me to consult or speak with their friends who are going through challenging times as well. I realized that I had a duty to not only transform my life but also support everyone else who is up to it and Chronically Driven was born.
The whole idea behind sharing everyone’s stories is to show people that I am not an exception but that everyone is capable of achieving brilliance. We have this concept of ‘living beyond extraordinary’ as we believe that we are never going to be extraordinary as that falls within the spectrum of normalcy, we are so different that we need to go beyond extraordinary. Besides directly helping others, during the course of running Chronically Driven it became apparent that autoimmune conditions that we call ‘invisible conditions’ are widespread and only growing rapidly therefore need to be addressed within our larger society and find a way to accommodate those living lives that are unconventional to say the least.
- What are the projects going on right now?
Last year was all about building and nurturing the community and now we’re focusing on expanding the reach of Chronically Driven whilst tackling social issues such as employability laws for those who cannot fit into the 9-5 system and stigmas attached with the word ‘disability’ as incompetence rather than viewing it as one that allows us to do things that others aren’t able to.
I was recently awarded an RSA Fellowship and chosen for an arts & technology pilot at Near Now Studios (supported by Arts Council England & Innovate UK) where I’ve met exceptional individuals who have a lot to bring to Chronically Driven so we’re looking at some exciting collaborations in 2016.
- What are your future goals?
Chronically Driven is my life’s works, I am pretty sure of it. If there’s been one constant theme in my life that is ideas of sickness & health ever since I can remember. I spent much of my childhood in hospital beds than my own!
The future of Chronically Driven is to house alternate research to battle invisible conditions that fall under the radar of mainstream medicine, such as chronic fatigue and chronic pain. We’ve had expressions of interest from biomedical artists, scientists, ‘data heads’ and social researchers to take up the challenges that we battle everyday and find solutions to it.
In brief, I would be most delighted to create a space that facilitates support and growth of those who have otherwise been told their diagnosis is the end of all things that they enjoyed doing.
- I am sure you are quite busy; how do you maintain your health?
That is a really good question and one that I ask myself everyday! I am very open about the ups and downs of my own health with my community because I realized from the start that one of the biggest reasons we are unable to cope with the sudden constrains that these conditions bring with them is because we’re used to a sense of control in our everyday life and when that’s taken away it can be a bit overwhelming, to say the least. Being open about them instills not only a sense of confidence within myself but also shows my community that everyone has ups & downs, we just get them a little more often than the rest and that it’s okay.
On the logistical side of things, I am highly picky with the things/projects/people that I commit to and live by my schedule. Most people don’t schedule in things like silence or ‘lie on the sofa doing nothing’ but it’s those things that keep me going. If it’s not in the schedule it’s not important, and you have to pick what works best for you based on how your energy levels are each day/week/month.
To Get in Contact with Bhavani Esapathi:
Full Name: Bhavani Esapathi
Website: www.bhaesa.com
Chronically Driven: www.bhaesa.com/cd-mainpage
Twitter: @bhaesa
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/chronicallydriven?_rdr=p
Chronically Driven Newsletter: https://eepurl.com/bpEseH
Post your comments