Self Advocacy

With COVID-19 affecting all of us, our physical bodies and emotions are on high alert. I am moved to see the voices rising from the tumult that are finding ways to help, uplift, and unify to balance out all the uncertainty. Every one of us, if we're honest with ourselves, knows vulnerability. Isolation, canceled plans, financial uncertainty, and putting dreams on hold because of health issues is nothing new for those of us who live with chronic illness. But with the COVID-19 pandemic, we are now sharing these experiences together. My hope is that this crisis brings the best of human nature forward and the inherent resiliency of our hands and hearts leads the way.
So while our documentary location production schedule is on hold our Unfixed Community engines are running smoothly from the safety of our own homes and will continue to do so for another 10 months. We cherish their voices more than ever now. Weeks before the World Health Organization proclaimed our global pandemic, our Unfixed Community started setting up their smartphone tripods and sharing their thoughts for this month's theme - Advocacy. We wanted to learn how people with chronic illness self-advocate and what barriers and pitfalls prevent this from happening. Right now we all have an opportunity to advocate for each other and especially the medically vulnerable so hearing their thoughts on this topic firsthand especially hits home.
ABOUT:
On February 1, 2020, twenty people living with chronic conditions began a 24-month journey together. They all received an email with a prompt, a question, or an idea to help them explore a topic around living Unfixed. Then they set up a tripod and recorded their response with their smartphones. Some are living with the aftermath of a cerebral stroke, others are struggling with autoimmune disease or daily, debilitating migraines. These honest, unpolished moments are at the heart of the unfixed state - the highs, the lows, and everything in between.
On the first of each month, they will receive a new prompt. Subscribe to our channel to stay up-to-date on the monthly community videos premiering exclusively here on KZbin!
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Thank you to our partners and collaborators for believing in us, bringing healing and advocacy into your own circles, and helping us grow our audience to create a more informed and empathic world. We can't control what curve balls come our way in life but we can decide what to do about them. We are endlessly inspired by the people and organizations choosing to bring positivity, awareness, and love into some of the most challenging of places. Please take the time to learn more about all of their extensive efforts within the chronic illness communities - Invisible Disabilities Association, Our Odyssey, Solutions for a Better Day, Inspire, Health Story Collaborative, VeDA, InvisiYouth, Beyond My Battle, and MdDS Foundation.

[@ahmadreshad508]

This is a great project with an uplifting message. Thank you!

[@UnfixedCommunity]

Thank you for watching! So glad you got something out of it.

[@lizjohnson9307]

Really great work! I see advocacy as part of my treatment plan, just as important as the medicine I take to combat my disease. The best part, though, is that every step I take in advocacy also helps those around me who share my struggle. Thanks for giving voice to the voiceless. Keep up the fabulous work!!

[@snowmanmelting8]

So honest and inspiring

[@jennyhughes4474]

We get very worn down trying to explain and argue and justify ourselves over and over, I do. We need a person or people beside us to back us up when those we're talking to won't listen or believe us and think they know better than us what we need and provide inappropriate 'solutions'. I'm sick of being told I'm the problem, that I'm too demanding, that I'm a liar or I exaggerate, that I don't try hard enough, that I'm looking for attention and that I'm always complaining, it's so untrue and unfair. All these denials and belittling of what we deal with 24/7 make me hate and doubt myself - unsurprisingly. I think it's maybe easier to advocate for someone else than ourselves? Thank you for this: we have all got so much to learn from each other everywhere.

[@beautifullybroken9373]

BTW Brian cracked me up in the intro. Ain’t nobody got time for riff raff!!

[@UnfixedCommunity]

Beautifully Broken he’s definitely our resident comedian.🤣

[@beautifullybroken9373]

😭😭😭 powerful stuff ❤️

[@kimberlywarner628]

I am learning so much from all of your voices!

[@beautifullybroken9373]

kimberly warner I am too. Everyone has such unique and beautiful perspectives!