https://www.nicoladicapua.com/blog daily 0.75 2025-12-03 https://www.nicoladicapua.com/blog/releasing-my-first-book monthly 0.5 2025-12-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f53c908dcb5d1ff3ec4cc9/9bfdd66d-52f3-4de3-8a85-76f6068a3d48/20251201_124733.JPG Blog - Releasing My First Book The Cage Was Never Mine to Stay In - As my first book is released today on December 3rd, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, I’m so super excited about this publication and to share the meaning behind my book cover and the deaf journeys behind it. Writing this book has been a journey of experience. I never expected to publish my own book, and it took many years to understand the why behind my deaf journeys. The book cover shows myself as the author’s side profile. It shows a birdcage with an open door and an ear shape inside the cage, centered over my left ear. An eagle with open wings is flying out of the cage. In the background, it has an abstract wave illustration with different shades of green. The green colour wasn’t chosen by accident. The cover is not just an image. It explains how I came deaf and how I accepted who I am by focusing on my own soul’s well-being. The cover comes from my true self, and my personal truth helps me communicate my struggles in a way that readers can understand. I wrote it from my heart, speaking of self awareness, self love, personal transformation, and spiritual connection. Green symbolizes growth, healing, and the courage to begin again. Throughout my deaf journeys, this colour represents determination, healing, facing unfolding things that happened and the courage that guides me to different paths. It also symbolizes personal transformation and embracing my true identity. The birdcage shares many stories I carry, including fear, unfamiliar environments, prejudice, rejection, and things that were untrue about myself. It shares the challenges, emotions, and the meaning behind why I often say that being deaf is exhausting. The eagle represents exploring and discovering self love, which means accepting my authentic self as self acceptable. These experiences push me to see life differently through curiosity. That is part of truly living. The rest of my deaf journeys are inside my book The Cage Was Never Mine to Stay In. https://www.nicoladicapua.com/blog/welcome-to-my-website monthly 0.5 2025-11-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f53c908dcb5d1ff3ec4cc9/3d2f02b5-ebcc-4a23-9f5e-0f6f1deda503/Nicola+Di+Capua+Profile.jpg Blog - Welcome to my Wesbite! - I am extremely excited to share my experiences with you, and I thank you for giving me this opportunity. Let me briefly introduce myself. My name is Nicola, though most people know me as Nick, and I live in the Greater Toronto Area in Canada. People often shorten my name to Nic without the k, which always makes me laugh. I often wonder why people keep calling me Nic in messages and emails. That is not my name . Please make sure to keep the 'k'; I promise it is an important part of me. I was born to hearing parents and raised in a hearing culture. When I was three years old, doctors diagnosed me as deaf and fitted me with hearing aids. I could not clearly recognize sounds with them because everything came through muffled. By the age of twenty-five, I had lost most of my hearing, and the hearing aids no longer gave me enough power to hear anything at all. The only thing I could still hear was a high-pitched sound, and that led me to remove the hearing aids completely. My life changed completely after that. I entered a world of silence. I still remember certain sounds by memory, such as my late dog Eva’s bark or the sound of footsteps coming toward me. No matter how strange they once sounded, I miss them very much. A few years later, I began to experience tinnitus and insomnia without understanding ‘the why.’ It took me a while, but as I grew older and experienced many situations, I began to understand it. By the way, welcome! Please explore my book and award-winning documentary film and stay connected through my social media to see what comes next. https://www.nicoladicapua.com/blog/writing-a-note monthly 0.5 2025-11-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f53c908dcb5d1ff3ec4cc9/7bfa5cd2-78ec-4d0b-9f7c-11748627c607/Messenger_creation_B060FBB7-16BF-439F-A6D9-099093B80436.jpeg Blog - Writing a Note to Myself: Words of Wisdom and Love - Dearest Nicola, I am writing this note of wisdom and love to you in hopes that you grow into this world, a world you often feel you don’t fit in and are not a part of. You live in a state of fear, not wanting to be seen as deaf professional. I know there are people who tell you, “It is impossible to have it all,” or, “Your problem is your expectations are too high.” I know you constantly had to adapt and overcome challenges at a very young age because you were mocked relentlessly by other children at school. I also know that some remarks made by people who may not realize their words insult your intelligence have hurt you deeply. You have so much more potential than you ever imagined you would have. Look at how far you have come. You have rocked, and continue to rock, this box that tries to lock you in and keep you from finding the courage to get out. Your life feels like a roller coaster of emotions, but I promise you that in the toughest moments, even when no one can truly understand what it means to be deaf, you will rise above it. Producing and directing your own documentary Step Into My World and writing your book The Cage Was Never Mine To Stay In have made you the inner soul of who you are and continue to become. I want you to care less and stop worrying about what others think of you or believe that you cannot achieve what you desire from life. I want you to step out of your comfort zone and that box you feel trapped in. I want you to travel and explore different cultures and disability communities in many countries around the world. I want you to do this as much as you can so that you can bring back their stories and experiences to share with others. Whatever it is, the way you tell your stories can make all the difference. Remember that your stories are enough, and so are you. With love. https://www.nicoladicapua.com/blog/step-into-my-world-wins-the-grand-jury-prize-award monthly 0.5 2025-11-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f53c908dcb5d1ff3ec4cc9/61f00852-35c4-4b0e-893c-beb4ba1f291d/IMG_2859.JPG Blog - Step Into My World Film Won the Grand Jury Prize! - I still remember my short film documentary Step Into My World was screened at the Chang Film Festival 2019, held at Jackman Hall, Art Gallery of Ontario in February 2019. That evening, my film Step Into My World won the Grand Jury Prize Award. As the director of the film, I was both nervous and proud to see my film work shown on the big screen. Step Into My World captures a real-life experiment where a hearing production coordinator joined a deaf film crew without knowing what the experience would be like. At first, everything feels disorienting and brings an uncomfortable feeling as communication seems impossible. By the end of the day, the meaning behind the experience starts to make sense and leaves you with something to think about after watching. When the festival announced the winners that evening, I watched the ASL interpreter on stage fingerspell my name, Nicola Di Capua, and my name appeared on the screen. It was a very special night that I will never forget. Creating Step Into My World was not an easy process. It came with challenges, obstacles, and moments of self-doubt. It reminded me how far this journey has brought me as deaf filmmaker. None of it would have been possible without the dedication of so many amazing people: my crew, cast, director of photography, film mentors, and, of course, my parents, my partner, and extended family who believed in me from the beginning. I am also deeply grateful to the ASL interpreters, the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT), the Ontario Arts Council, York University, and the Chang School of Continuing Education. Their support helped make this film a reality. Even though this happened a few years ago, my book The Cage Was Never Mine To Stay In shares my experiences of how Step Into My World happened. Not only that, but this is the personal book I wrote from my heart. It tells about my deaf journeys, discovering who I am, understanding myself more, and learning to live with honesty, self-love, and peace within myself. https://www.nicoladicapua.com/home daily 1.0 2026-03-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f53c908dcb5d1ff3ec4cc9/1762700078112-5I221WCJ61X3C8ZMF6F1/Cover%252BBook%252BPicture%252B-%252BEmpty%252Bbg.png Nicola Di Capua Learn More About My Book and the Deaf Journeys Behind It https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f53c908dcb5d1ff3ec4cc9/ddb158c2-51bc-43f8-8b81-b622d39cfb9c/Step+Into+My+World+-+FINAL+%28with+title+and+two+laurels%29.png Nicola Di Capua Watch the 10-Minute Award-Winning Documentary https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f53c908dcb5d1ff3ec4cc9/9456bf90-761d-4230-bb01-152b13a3c4bf/L4BQY-3115M7KE_DiCapuaN_03+Edited.jpg https://www.nicoladicapua.com/meet-nicola daily 0.75 2025-11-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f53c908dcb5d1ff3ec4cc9/c090e67a-24af-4e75-8999-02308d72b79e/Nicola+Di+Capua%2C+Independent+Filmmaker+%28Photographica+by+Maloney%29.jpg https://www.nicoladicapua.com/contact-nicola daily 0.75 2025-11-12 https://www.nicoladicapua.com/the-cage-was-never-mine-to-stay-in daily 0.75 2025-12-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f53c908dcb5d1ff3ec4cc9/9cdbaa86-3920-451d-88b7-90230d8b7a74/Cover+Book+Picture+-+Empty+bg.png https://www.nicoladicapua.com/step-into-my-world daily 0.75 2026-03-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68f53c908dcb5d1ff3ec4cc9/ddb158c2-51bc-43f8-8b81-b622d39cfb9c/Step+Into+My+World+-+FINAL+%28with+title+and+two+laurels%29.png https://www.nicoladicapua.com/testimonials daily 0.75 2026-03-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/4b237431-69a3-45ad-8bdb-e3947259051c/imgg-demo-qs29Y0Ih.jpg Testimonials https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/f5be000f-883d-4b52-8322-13ce5108db47/imgg-demo-nLRbokBp.jpg Testimonials https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/6d6ce9d6-acc5-4337-84fa-c8c6a18cbbd7/imgg-demo-dr4UJ5bT.jpg Testimonials https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/d0c64311-b23a-4075-a6bb-08ec13a3bc11/imgg-demo-nD6Pzw4T.jpg Testimonials