Ageless Passions by Karen Putz

Tag: the passionate lives of deaf and hard of hearing people

  • Back to Blogging!

    It’s been a long absence, but I’m back to blogging here! My site was attacked by a nasty malware and it took quite some time to clean it up and get it functioning again.  Meanwhile, I did my blogging over at ChicagoNow, where one of my posts went viral: Harry Styles Signs to Deaf Fans at a One Direction Concert.  Yes, a simple post about a One Direction concert hit the number two spot on ChicagoNow at one point.  My daughter ended up in M magazine as a result of her own guest post on ChicagoNow: Signing with Harry Styles at a One Direction Concert. 

     

    Back in January, I started a speaking business and I have been traveling all over the U.S. speaking to schools, businesses, and organizations.  I absolutely love it!  This year alone, I have spoken in Florida, Maine, New York, California, Canada, Michigan, Wisconsin, Texas, South Dakota, Indiana, and Colorado.  I can’t wait to see what next year brings!  If your school, business, or organization would like me to speak, email me at karen (at) karenputz.com. For more information about my speaking topics or how I can serve your speaking needs:  Karen Putz Speaking.  I speak frequently on the topics of overcoming adversity, parenting, and of course, PASSION!  I’m a Passion Coach who helps others unwrap their top five passions.

    Of course, I’ve been spending a lot of time enjoying my passion of barefoot water skiing this summer.  The sport has brought me many new friends and allowed me to barefoot in so many new places.  I unwrapped my passion for the sport just four years ago when the hubby sent me a link to this TODAY Show which changed my life:  66-Year-Old Judy Myers Barefooting.  In March of 2010, I went down to the World Barefoot Center for the first time and life has never been the same since!  I’m proud to be a part of the World Barefoot Center staff and a contributing writer to WaterSki and Water Skier magazines.  Joseph Campbell was right– he said, “If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. Wherever you are—if you are following your bliss, you are enjoying that refreshment, that life within you, all the time.”

    Over the summer, I also released a new book, The Passionate Lives of Deaf and Hard of Hearing People.  The book features 22 deaf and hard of hearing people in all kinds of professions, hobbies, and sports.  I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to cross paths with many amazing deaf and hard of hearing people all over the world and I wanted to share this with parents of deaf and hard of hearing kids as well as deaf and hard of hearing teens and adults.  This book is the first in a series–stay tuned for more!

    And… if you’re at the store, grab a copy of the October issue of O Magazine and you’ll find a little blurb from me on page 22.  This is the third time I’ve been in O Magazine and I’d love to see a full-fledged article in there next!

    Here’s a few more interviews and blurbs from over the summer:

    Putting Your Feet Back on the Water — The Shut Up Show

    Helping Others Help Themselves — Healthy Hearing

    The Parenting Journey — Book Review

  • The Passionate Lives of Deaf and Hard of Hearing People

    For a short time in college, I toyed with the idea of becoming a nurse. I wanted to become a labor and delivery nurse and work with babies. I was sitting with a counselor, planning my future classes and trying to select a major. She expressed her concern at my choice of a career: how would I communicate with the doctors? What if I misunderstood a patient?

    I was dealing with the newness of becoming deaf and my self-esteem was in a shaky place.  I dropped the idea and focused on a major which seemed to be a better fit, a vocational rehabilitation counselor. Never mind the fact that my heart wasn’t really into it, but hey, I liked helping people and counseling was right up my alley.

    Fast forward a few years and I began to meet more and more deaf and hard of hearing people from all over.  Heck, I met lawyers, engineers, pharmacists, vets, doctors, dentists and yes–deaf and hard of hearing nurses! Deaf and hard of hearing nurses in the emergency rooms, operating rooms, schools, nursing homes and heck yeah–working in labor and delivery! Oh, and musicians, athletes, actors, realtors, motivational speakers and more! All of them deaf and hard of hearing. Where the heck were these people when I was growing up? Where were they when I was picking my major in college?

    I’m a mom of three deaf and hard of hearing kids and I’ve raised them with the idea that they can do whatever they’re passionate about. I made sure to expose them to as many deaf and hard of hearing adults as I possibly could while they were growing up. I also wanted them to understand they might have to lead the way if they chose a path that someone hadn’t gone down before.  That’s how the idea for my newest book came about: “The Passionate Lives of Deaf and Hard of Hearing People.” The book features a collection of stories of 22 deaf and hard of hearing people living out their passions and doing what they were born to do.

    It is my hope that every deaf and hard of hearing person will pick up this book and realize they can live the life they’re passionate about–all that’s needed is the courage to unwrap their passion and put it in motion.

    Bulk orders are available at a discount–email me at: karen(at)karenputz.com.

    Other books by Karen Putz