When challenges come---and they always do---it's up to us to either allow it to destroy us or bring out the best in us. That is exactly what Toronto native Jewel Kats has done.
I was introduced to the author and disability advocate through Victor R. Volkman, the founder of Loving Healing Press and the publisher of several of her titles. Katz was involved in a car accident as a child that changed her life, but didn't take away her desire to change the world.
After reading a few of her titles I had the opportunity to interview her for Conversations LIVE, and it was an inspiring discussion that led me to this theme: nothing is impossible when you live life without impossibilities.
Jewel told me that it's been an amazing experience to have individuals read her work and get the messages she has included. "That's exactly what I wanted to do," she says.
She told me she didn't know she wanted to be a writer until her twenties, and after some changes in her personal life it was a conversation with her mother that set things in motion. "My mom asked what I wanted to do with my life," she recalls. "I told her I wanted to write books for children." The rest, as they say, is history.
Since then she has written books like Reena's Bollywood Dream: A Story about Sexual Abuse, Cinderella's Magical Wheelchair: An Empowering Fairy Tale and Teddy Bear Princess: A Story About Sharing and Caring: all of which are entertaining, yet provide important lessons for readers of all ages.
Thanks to the internet, Jewel is able to reach individuals around the world, something that she doesn't take lightly. "You never think you can touch people through a keyboard and your thoughts," she told me. "It's so humbling to know you are making a difference through your words."
That difference she is making also comes from her personal love of the craft. "Writing is a burning desire," Jewel explained. "I can't go a day without writing. I'm constantly flooded with ideas. Writing is in my blood. It's what I do...what I want to do."
Because she has done so much I asked Jewel what advice she has for others when it comes to pursuing their goals and dreams. "We don't know what is going to happen tomorrow," she said, "so you have to make the most of today. Keep trying. Look inside yourself. If you have a dream then follow it."
Make sure to stay in touch with everything Jewel at her website www.jewelkats.com.
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