It may seem like there is a barrage of negative news and not enough hope permeating the internet these days, that is until you meet Anne Houtsma. She, like so many others, have had their deal of crosses to bear in her lifetime, from her dealings with her genetic ailment 22q11ds, to the hurdles that presented as a result. The illness itself is a genetic disorder that renders the 22nd chromosome incomplete which can cause diversified and varied implicated results.
Through it all Anne Houtsma has managed to persevere and showcase a remarkable resilience that should serve as a lesson to all those who have their own mountains to climb. While the struggles for all in the last 18 months can be somewhat quantified, as Anne Houtsma’s story will indicate, there is always cause for hope and connectivity in the face of it all, and incredible strength to be taken as a result.
Finding Her Support
Throughout her life, Anne Houtsma has dealt with no end of challenges. With 22q11ds restricting her ability to be social in her schooldays she had an incredible amount of support from her parents and siblings. Her schooling restrictions were a large contributor to bouts of depression she suffered as a result of her differences. However, it was a most unexpected place where she found a sense of kinship and support outside of her family, an MMORPG of all places. She also has one friend supporting her since she was 7y.
In 2017 she began finding friendship and unbridled support from other players of World of Warcraft, which led her to find solace and a sense of community in her life which had been lacking for a good portion of it.
Her passion for writing also had a role to play as she began detailing stories and thoughts of her journey with 22q11ds, what started out as a personal blog quickly evolved into opportunity for her to write for a Dutch news website where a myriad of new readers were able to go with her on this journey.
Below is a beautiful song written by Anne Houtsma (sing by another person). The song is about the world and how it is worrying her with the upcoming violence.
Lyrical Expression
In response to the recent pandemic, Anne Houtsma got together with a friend and composer to create ‘We Lost It’. Anne’s lyrics signify and express a deep thought process surrounding the current state of the world, yet never succumbing to the temptations of falling into it. We look forward to see what she will present next, for now, here is the link to the release. You can follow up with Anne Houtsma at https://annesimperfectworld.jouwweb.nl
