MJ (Mary Jane) Grant shares with us how being a proud CODA (Child Of Deaf Adults) defined her life purpose – translating and interpreting the human heart.  For MJ, being a CODA wasn’t “pain” or “struggle,” but the world is not set up to support deaf people. People would call her parents dumb, and now caring for her mother with dementia, she’s risen up to share the very real experience and challenge with others in a documentary. She will open and break your heart and show you how to persevere with joy, grit, and purpose. You will LOVE her and this episode!

It's a fact that no one is exempt from going through tough times. More often than we'd like we find ourselves dealing with really difficult situations than can be frustrating and unfair, making us feel powerless. But even though most of us may fall into these negative ways of feeling, we ALSO can find truly meaningful gifts hidden among the adversity.   In this episode, MJ and I laugh (she’s become a good friend), we cry, we dish on joy and rollerblading and all things to rise up from trauma. She’s a lifelong learner who grew up with a passion for connection and skillful, nuanced communication, excelling in the daily work of connecting others while opening hearts along the way.

In this episode, MJ and I discuss the following:

• The importance of accepting yourself -and HOW to accept yourself – plus how not doing so can lead to identity struggle, depression or worse.
• How to overcome external judgements.
• How to turn hard situations into fertilizer for personal growth.
• An upcoming new paradigm that embraces difference and accepts everybody as special in a unique way.
• Regardless of how hopeless a context may seem, remember – you always get to choose!

Watch “So Happy to Meet You”, the short documentary MJ did for the International Dementia Conference that was founded by HammondCare in Australia (https://youtu.be/3py3DHOfW2w). You can check out the journey she has documented at her Instagram and Twitter account (@mjgrant) and also at her YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4eyyELBabLfNrHMsEeBNMg).

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May you live purposefully, may you love yourself, and may you love life!! Bye for now!

XO, Carin

About Mary Jane Grant

Mary Jane Grant AKA MJ came into the world with a magical curiosity for life. Born to two Deaf parents in Sanford, Maine, MJ is a lifelong learner who excels in the daily work of connecting others while opening hearts along the way. She is a proud CODA (Child Of Deaf Adults) and a native user of American Sign Language (ASL), who grew up with a passion for connection and skillful, nuanced communication. MJ has learned, loved and thrived through every chance encounter with the individuals she has met along the way. Her joyful, intuitive nature reflects a warmhearted tenderness and instinctual resilience that emerged early in life and led to a career as a professional sign language interpreter. She has worked with Deaf communities across the U.S. while managing her company, Mary Jane Grant Sign Language Interpreting Services, in between moments of happy chaos at home. But her real gift in the most simple terms? She translates and interprets the human heart. In recent years, MJ walked alongside her father, who passed in 2019, after his battle with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy while being the primary caregiver for her mother who is living with dementia. Having navigated the healthcare system, MJ discovered the tremendous barriers to care for Deaf seniors. It is MJ’s mission to open the hearts of others and ensure her mother, Carmen, as well as every other Deaf senior, has access to the highest quality care to live their best life possible.