The Portrait of Dreams

Cindy Klink

I dreamed of being a singer and actress, as the deaf daughter of deaf parents. I had the gall to keep dreaming about it until it became my job.

1. Bio

Actress, performer and consultant for the music, film and theatre industries, she is one of the top youtubers who post about sign language. She grew up bilingual (spoken and sign language), and from an early age she had to grapple with the difficulties of being deaf in a hearing world. She treasures the discrimination she has encountered and continues to work on her dream: to get up on stage and be heard. In 2018, she published the book Hören wird überbewertet (Hearing is overrated). Today, she is fully committed to spreading a more inclusive, accurate and respectful approach to deafness.

2. The power of a dream

The power of a dream? Just look at what job I do! Life can be extraordinary when you learn to stop worrying about the judgement of others and follow what you really feel you want. My biggest dream as a child was to be in a movie, but also to be on a stage, making music, with thousands of eyes on me. I knew very well that I was almost deaf already at the age of three, and now I am completely deaf. Yet, since 2019 I’ve performed professionally, I just got the lead role in a film that will be released soon and I work in an acting agency. Fortunately, I never paid attention to those who told me it was not possible.

3. My journey into real beauty

Hearing the roar of thunderous applause rising from the stalls, vibrating in my ears. Seeing hundreds, thousands of hands moving in the air and the crowd dancing. And it is me who is setting the music, it is me they are clapping for. This is pure beauty: and you don’t do it for vanity, to prove something, but only because you are finally right where you were meant to be. There is a powerful beauty in learning to do things in order to follow your own nature and not to prove something to someone. It is the difference between love and anger: they can take you to the same place, but with two completely different sets of baggage. Figuring out this path is a crazy journey into beauty.

4. What I learned and won’t let go

I am ambiverse, an incredible mix of introversion and extroversion. I am deaf and I make music and films. My path may seem chaotic, but in the middle of all the obstacles, I have learnt two basic rules: don’t worry too much about how others judge you, and never lose faith in yourself. We all have the right to live out our dreams and no one else has the right to judge them. As a woman (and as a deaf woman) I often feel that we are not treated as equals. We are not put on the same level as men. Which is a pity, because with us in it, the show would be much bigger and better. But in the meantime, my dream for all women is that we learn never to stop believing in ourselves and to defend our place in life and our aspirations.

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