We recently connected with Bri Basco and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Bri, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
Long story short: Healing a brain injury through Movement (circus and yoga), Performance, music, nature, the ocean, art, holistic medicine, and the science of human behavior. Movement and resilience saved my life.
My purpose comes from the desire to help everyone truly dig deep to authentically be themselves. I was unable to understand how challenging this was until the universe forced me to change the way I was living in a way that honored my truth and set healthy boundaries.
“When you don’t make it about you, the universe will” – John Kim
I continually find depth and meaning in my purpose in life through personal experience, my practice, and observation of others. One of the most transformational experiences I have had in recent years, was a very unexpected traumatic brain injury. This changed my life on more than one occasion. This brain injury challenged my understanding of my body, my mind and how I once saw and now see the world. I’ve always heard that your brain controls everything, but I didn’t understand to what extent until I hit my head. At 25 years old, I encountered numerous health issues triggered from a TBI and felt like I had the worst hangover of my life every day I woke up. I went from extremely high-functioning and active to having a hard time existing. I had to find a purpose to get through this. As a BCBA (behavior analyst), it seemed obvious that I needed a treatment plan. I wrote treatment plans for others all the time, so why couldn’t I try to fix myself?
I started researching every possible treatment out there because I had become desperate to heal. We are conditioned to overlook natural medicine.
8 months into this search, I found a doctor that changed my life. The answer was simpler than I knew. Move your body. Rest. Exercise. Eat according to your body’s needs. It seemed like common sense, but no one tells us HOW to do this. It’s funny how we think the most complex problems need a complex solution. This time medication wasn’t the trick. It wasn’t until 2.5 years had gone by that I really committed to this and saw the impact it had on my overall well-being. This change made me realize that we do not always have the resources/environment/mentorship we need to succeed. It also made me realize the importance of sharing my story and how our basic human needs often get lost in the chaos that society tells us is the norm because injuries like this don’t necessarily fit in society. A society that values “go go go” and doesn’t tell you to rest and take time for yourself.
We are not encouraged to be individualized and to take care of ourselves. The formula is different for every body and that formula changes according to what our bodies need in time. We are often born into society without a say in our “purpose” and the environment molds us because it is all we know. While there are definitely positives from this, we can often get our purpose confused with others. If we don’t make our own path, someone else will.
Being in such a dark place made me realize how precious time and health is. Healing has set my passion on fire and given me insight on how important it is to pursue my dreams because as cliche as it sounds, you only live once.
It has further deepened my compassion for chronic pain, disabilities, mental health, and survivors of brain injuries as a person and as a practitioner.
I want others to know that life is really worth living and you are not alone in your pain. If there is a will, there is a way. It is hard to see through that when you wake up every day in excruciating pain, especially an invisible injury or illness. There is meaning and purpose. There is a lifestyle meant for you. You can conquer. It comes down to really learning and understanding what it is that we need in that moment and knowing that it may change the next day. It can be a very lonely journey.
I found my purpose through healing and have now made it my career to help others find ways to optimize their environment and lifestyle to do this.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
It is funny when people ask me what I do for work because I do many things. Currently, I am working as a BCBA (board certified behavior analyst) with kids and adults on the spectrum remotely and have an entertainment company that specializes in creating one of a kind circus shows. I am also a circus performer, artist, aerialist, yoga instructor, musician, photographer, and have recently been practicing Thai massage. So how do I tie all of these passions together? I have 2 big dreams. Creating my own practice that helps people reach their ultimate potential while living a balanced and meaningful life doing what I love. I want to help people achieve a lifestyle that is sustainable and FUN. Further down the road, I am looking to save up to buy a sailboat to create authentic one of a kind experiences that are circus themed on a sailboat. I am uncertain if this will look like day charters or collaborating to make it a holistic retreat until it naturally evolves. However, I would love to have a traveling circus on a sailboat and create social circuses wherever I go.
I love creating experiences, good vibes, and making people happy. I have recently fallen in love with the seaside and found so much healing creating a life that is close to the ocean and in nature and I want to share that.
Events: Circus with a purpose:
Join our community of purpose-driven artists, teachers, and healers for the 7th annual Circus with Purpose Retreat, supporting the incredible Social Circus Schools of El Nido de Las Artes Nicaragua and Escuela Comedia y Mimo.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Resilience, curiosity, and ADHD (wanting to do it all) It’s all about action.
Growth Mindset.
When you dream it, Dream it bigger than the skies. Bigger than the galaxies. Dream it with light. Dream it with Power. Dream it ACTION.
Build and create your dreams. Don’t stop. Don’t let obstacles rule you. Obstacles become a part of your creation. They become a chance to refine and recreate vision. They become a way to look at goals and realize that change is where a lot of the magic happens. Sometimes the path you start with isn’t the path you finish with. And sometimes none of it makes any damn sense..
THIS IS WHERE YOUUUUU need to keep believing in yourself the most.
THIS IS WHERE OTHERS STOP. BUT WHERE YOU MUST KEEP GOING. You can’t let the world get you down.
Figure out what works for you.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
Investors. Visionaries. People who dream big. Sailing circus artist?
Contact Info:
- Website: https://brifreephotography.wixsite.com/inspira
- Instagram: brithesparklefairy
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/brifreephotography/ Email: [email protected]
Image Credits
@Joelwantstogo , Steven Hu, BriFreephotography
