The Moments In Between with Dr Katya Abedian-Rawhani

There are people who live at the meeting point of worlds - science and spirit, discipline and devotion, service and storytelling. Katya is one of them.

A medical doctor working within South Africa’s public healthcare system, Katya moves through long days of tangible care and human urgency. Alongside this, she is a filmmaker, photographer and writer - tenderly gathering moments, textures and truths that live just beneath the surface of everyday life. Her work is rooted in ancestry, land and memory, shaped by Iranian heritage and a deep reverence for transformation and healing in its many forms.

In this conversation, we explore the spaces in between: between medicine and art, home and heritage, stillness and motion. Katya reflects on beauty as a force for transformation, the grounding power of nature and water, the meaning of home, and the slow, patient unfolding of a life lived in service - to others, to creativity, and to something greater than the self.

What do you do?

I’m a medical Doctor currently completing my internship years of training, so on a day to day basis I am working in public healthcare, trying to do my best to serve our communities.

Outside of my “day” job I am a writer, film director and photographer. I’m currently marinating some projects that are very close to my heart that I hope to bring into fruition once I have more space and time after my internship & community service years.

How do medicine and storytelling fulfil different parts of you?

Working in healthcare is fulfilling in the sense that every day I get to help people in a very overt and tangible way. I don’t have to question whether my work is helping, which is really what I hoped for. Of course, with filmmaking, I deeply believe stories and moving hearts hold deep potential to create change in the world, but a lot of that is also abstract and difficult to access or feel on a day-to-day basis.

I appreciate my work in healthcare in that I can, a lot of the time, see patients improving and feel like I am contributing to changing their lives even if it’s in some small way. I guess that makes me feel like the years of sacrifice and studying are meaningful, because as a medical student you can’t wait to just see the results of years of learning being put into action.

I also feel a spiritual and somewhat ancestral connection to the potential I hope to bring out of working in healthcare. My paternal grandfather was a self-taught herbalist in his village in Iran, and my maternal grandfather was a nature conservationist. Somehow these two lineages I feel within, like a natural inclination towards healing and conservation, preserving a state of holistic health. My dream is to venture more into functional medicine, traditional Persian and Ayuvedic medicine with a focus on preventative and community.

How has heritage shaped you?

My father is from a small village called Masghan in Iran that technically doesn't even exist anymore. He had an agricultural upbringing working on pomegranate farms with his family as a child/teenager, and growing up with him, he’s always been an example of the importance of earth and being able to grow your own food and care for it.

His stories, as well as many of the stories I was exposed to growing up when my family from Iran would visit, deeply informed my love for storytelling. I could always strongly visualise their stories in my imagination and this inspired me to explore the world of filmmaking and writing as I was already practising analogue photography. Their stories continue to inspire me to this day.

Where and how did you find your aesthetic and storytelling sensibility?

I am a major sentimentalist. I am always just trying to capture how I see and feel in moments, spaces and with people. It is definitely a lens rather than something I switch on. But at times I am more in-tune with myself and I am always trying to refine and develop my ability to tell stories through film, writing and photographs.

What does beauty mean to you?

Anything that moves you. Whether it’s moving you to be more present, moving you to share, moving you closer to yourself/others, moving you closer to truth or peace, moving you to love, towards being more generous. To me beauty is a transformative power.

Where do you call home?

Physically, our home is by the ocean in Cape Town. In reality though, home is where my husband is. Home to me is safety and a soft haven where you can be entirely yourself, rest and feel most at ease. Home is also a space to express myself and re-charge, to fill up my cup so that I can better give to others.

What’s precious in your home? How do you design your space?

For the past year we’ve been settling into our new home and it’s been so wonderful to be able to be very thoughtful and intentional with everything in our space, which is something I have always really yearned for.

I recently made a collage artwork of all the polaroids, train and flight tickets, postcards and mementos from our various trips so far and special occasions like our wedding, honeymoon and anniversaries. I compiled them into an artwork that hangs above our dining table. That’s very precious and sentimental to us.

The main carpet in our apartment is a beautiful Persian carpet from Shiraz, a wedding gift from our dear family in Iran that is also incredibly special.

We also recently got the “Matin” lamp from Hay, which is definitely an object of affection in our space. I’ve had it on my wishlist for years!

Do you have any home rituals?

Lighting candles and brewing Persian tea with dried rose petals and cardamom, opening the doors and windows so that the ocean air fills our home, I do also love burning Palo Santo. I would say cooking and cleaning together is a home ritual in itself that we enjoy too – luckily my husband loves cooking and I love cleaning haha!

What’s something that grounds you?

Quite literally walking on earth outside. Walking in nature and being away from my phone for as long as possible. We have some of the most beautiful indigenous gardens at home that flower all-year-round and huge pine trees that surround our home. The smell of pine and of all the plants and flowers brings me back into my body.

Other things are: being with my husband, moving my body (particularly in water), hot, long showers after extremely long work days.

What’s something that brings you joy?

I love being in water. Particularly ocean water. I feel most like myself when I am swimming. So many things bring me joy, I wouldn’t know where to begin. I’ll list a few that come to mind:

Dusk light. Walking barefoot in our gardens after work when the earth is damp and the fragrances of pine trees and flowers fills the air. Sleeping in and morning cuddles. My husband bringing me morning coffee on an off day. Acts of thoughtfulness. Taking a warm shower after spending an entire day in the ocean and under the sun. Salty hair. Being able to sit in silence with loved ones. My husband’s cooking. Discovering new places. Road trips. Stillness. Cold fruit. Not having any plans or doing things spontaneously. Re-discovering parts of your creative self. Reading in bed. Trying new things that scare you. Slow evenings. Finishing something you started. Rain, especially when you can stay in bed.

Do you have a favourite scent?

Yesterday, today, tomorrow flower (Brunfelsia pauciflora), geranium flower and Japanese-honeysuckle flower: reminds me of my childhood garden that I grew up in (and that we got married in) - my Dad’s garden

My husband’s cologne, obviously. The smell of ocean air mixed with sunblock: reminds me of Cape Town summer, the best time to be alive. The smell of rain.

A piece of writing that has inspired you?

I have so many that come to mind, but recently, during times of impatience this writing by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, “Know that you are where you are not by chance, but by the design of your creator, for your development and for the development of those around you.”

It brings me a sense of focus and peace to trust God / a Higher Power’s timing when I feel I am not making progress fast enough.

The biggest learning or reflection of 2025?

That when drawing on strength and power that is beyond myself, I'd say from God but others call it a higher power or the universe, I am much stronger, resilient and capable than I feel.

There have been so many learnings but another big one is that I don’t need to explain myself to people that are not significant in my life, nor do I need to give them access to me.

An aspiration or manifestation for 2026?

To write and move my body more and spend less time worrying about things that I cannot control. To practise my creativity more and create more time for myself to do so.

Proudest moments to date?

Marrying my Husband. Making my first short film in 2018 when I had no experience or contacts in the film industry. Graduating from Medical School.