“Are you actually angry or are you kidding?” I asked my husband recently. His posture and facial expression read angry, but it was not the type of situation that called for this emotion. I was confused. It turned out he was joking, but I was missing the subtle cues in his voice. This has been known to happen with my children as well, and close friends, and when I thought about it, probably with other people too — maybe even perfect strangers. Was this somehow related to my hearing loss?
Regular readers of this blog know I am almost as passionate about yoga as I am about hearing loss advocacy. Yoga and meditation keep my body and mind strong and help me handle the daily frustrations of living with hearing loss. Often, the techniques I explore in my yoga and meditation practices can be directly applied to managing my hearing loss. My experience at a recent meditation seminar was no different.
The seminar entitled “Staying Sane in a Crazy World” featured Joseph Goldstein, a renowned meditation teacher, and Dan Harris, an ABC anchorman and author of the New York Times bestseller “10% Happier.” The talk was sponsored by New York Insight Meditation Center and it was packed! I had not expected a meditation lecture to be such a popular way to spend a cold winter’s evening during the holiday season, but I was pleased to see all the interest.
What I had expected was a lot of details on the specifics of meditation — the best way to sit, what to do with your hands, the perfect place to meditate, how to choose guided or silent, etc., but I was once again surprised. The main takeaway — do whatever works for you. It reminded me a lot of living with hearing loss.
Do you feel like hearing aids are everywhere in the press these days? First it was the groundbreaking launch by American Girl Doll of Joss, its 2020 girl of the year that not only enjoys surfing, but also wears a hearing aid. Then it was the Queen of England spotted in public for the first time wearing a hearing aid. It is exciting and inspired me to share my thoughts on the subject for HuffPost Personal.
Hopefully one day soon, someone wearing a hearing aid, no matter their age or occupation will no longer be newsworthy, but until then, the more press coverage the better. Building awareness is the best way to break down stigma, promote hearing aid and assistive listening device usage and build awareness about the ways people with hearing loss are breaking down communication barriers.
Click here to read the story on HuffPost. If it resonates with you, please share it widely to help build momentum for articles about hearing loss in the mainstream media.
Hearing loss can make communication in the workplace challenging, but there are strategies for success. In a recent talk on hearing loss in the workplace at Goldman Sachs, I highlighted the strategies and tips I use for one of the most difficult workplace situations — an in-person meeting. I share the portion of my talk on this topic below. Please add your suggestions in the comments.
It’s that time of year again — time to look back and remember the highlights of the past year, and make plans for the upcoming year. Many of 2019’s most popular posts on Living With Hearing Loss centered on the ways hearing loss impacts more than just the individual with hearing loss, but also the person’s family and friends. Some posts suggested ways that family and friends could help support those of us with hearing loss, while others discussed ways that we as people with hearing loss can get more comfortable asking for the help we need. The bottom line: Hearing loss is a team sport.
Thank you to all my readers for helping create this wonderful and encouraging hearing loss community. I appreciate you adding to the discussion with your comments and suggestions and for sharing support for one another. Here’s to more of the same in 2020.
I am taking next week off, but will be back in January with more posts. In the meantime, please enjoy the 10 most popular articles of 2019.
Readers, what was your favorite post of the year?
