Thank you for your kind words. I look at the letters dD as the process from just deaf to culturally Deaf. By staring at these two letters, the growth of d to D is apparent. I also believe that the Deafhood concept applies to every hearing impaired persons. Most of them just “deaf” and continue living as hearing persons. Those who use sign language and embrace deaf cultural values are culturally Deaf. You are right in saying that we need to explore into this further. One of my questions raised on the issue if Deafhood is experienced by hearing people too. Generally no, but . . .

I realized that we all are energy beings and everything is collective as to thoughts and actions are being sending to the universe.

Every Deaf person has the greatest gift because of silence as silence is required to go into the stream of consciousness. What does that mean? Majority of Deaf people are very close to becoming enlightened in this lifetime after removing obstacles within their mind. After it is removed the veil is lifted and then life becomes completed.

This has nothing to do with manmade religion and it has to do with the energy levels of the person. What the person is waiting for is a fire hose nozzle-like of light beam opening up in a moment when their energy frequency is matched.

When that happens then perspective changes totally and being Deaf as an identity shatters because one will no longer identify with their bodies.

While I’m not sure the word “pray” fits me personally when I think about our wise deaf elders or ancestors, I do like the idea of wondering what they might say to us today and what advice they might pass on in light of the issues d/Deaf people face today…

You wrote:

“We need to start working on making changes in our lives for our dDeaf children, or the Deaf Child Within us.”

I think you really identified something universal among all d/Deaf people and the reason we are focused on the lives of deaf babies: It’s the d/Deaf child within each of us, asking to be seen and heard, valued and cared for, wanting to belong and to matter, and longing to be accepted as we are and not changed into something we are not meant to be.

Being d/Deaf can indeed be a very “holy” journey for each d/Deaf person.

We often communally join in the journey of new deaf babies as well, perhaps as a form of rebirth, supporting deaf children the way we wish we were supported; giving ourselves a way to a new or preferred route on our journeys into deafhood.

Keep writing. I enjoy your train of thought. It’s so unique!

~ LaRonda

Deafhood ~ A Hero’s Journey: Individual or Collective Transformation

http://www.earofmyheart.com/wordpress/?p=103

Let me know what you think.

~ LaRonda

I do have my own faith in God, and consider myself a deeply spiritual person, but where I practice my spirituality goes beyond a church or synagogue. I learn and practice in the church of life.

This means that I also learn the same things (forgiveness, humility, love, compassion, giving, tolerance, hope, etc.) in the world of deafhood. In this way, being deaf is a greatly spiritual and humbling experience.

I can sense what you are trying to say here. Is being deaf and our journey into deafhood a spiritual experience? In my opinion, it is. Yes, because we learn many of the same morals and ethics from our deaf experience that we would in church.

Is our experience of Deafhood, religious (Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, etc.)? Not necessarily. Our deafness or deafhood is not defined by any one particular religion, though many Deaf people gather together to celebrate their particular religious faith in churches, temples, etc.

Could the experience of deafhood be called our church? To me, in a way, the answer is yes, just like being a mother to my son and a wife to my husband, and a employee to my boss, and a neighbor and friend are also experiences I would call “my church.”

These are the individuals and places where I learn more about myself as a spiritual person. They are relationships in which rise and fall and rise again as I practice the same ethics and morals I would in my religious church community. Being deaf is my life and life is my church.

So, do deaf people need deaf churches? Many would enjoy having a community of like-minded individuals with the same values, language, culture and norms in which they could celebrate their faith. I say it’s a good thing. Yet, I don’t feel that church is the only place to learn or be spiritual.

Life (being d/Deaf, hard of hearing, late-deaf, deaf-blind, A CODA, or hearing, being a woman or a man, being gay or straight, being employed or unemployed, being young or old,, etc., etc.) is a spiritual experience in and of itself.

~ LaRonda