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Anne | A Digital Storyteller With A Purpose In View

Anne, an Asian woman, is leaning with her right shoulder against the base of the curved wall of the Lighthouse at Stanley Park in Vancouver, BC. Her left hand is brushing her hair behind her ear. She is wearing a white drop waist dress and suede espadrilles. In the background is water and a forest of trees. (Photo Credit: Hayley @Flytographer)

Women On The Move | A Digital Storyteller With A Purpose In View

Contents

Editor’s Note

Anne, November’s Woman On The Move is a beautiful and brilliant storyteller. She also happens to be Bold Blind Beauty’s first Ambassador submission. If you haven’t seen her video yet you can view it on our YouTube Channel at this link: https://youtu.be/0t41G9lr9Is.

In today’s article, Anne shares her sight loss journey along with her current battle with chronic illness. Even though Anne is living with multiple disabilities she still can appreciate beauty conveyed through her content. Below Anne’s YouTube video is the transcript for those who prefer to read. Enjoy!

Beyond Sight Magazine Cover

Beyond Sight Magazine Cover features Anne, an Asian woman, is leaning with her right shoulder against the base of the curved wall of the Lighthouse at Stanley Park in Vancouver, BC. Her left hand is brushing her hair behind her ear. She is wearing a white drop waist dress and suede espadrilles. In the background is water and a forest of trees. (Photo Credit: Hayley @Flytographer) The cover also contains text: "Anne | A Digital Storyteller With A Purpose In View"

YouTube Video

Introduction

Seeing Beauty to Make an Emotional Connection - Anne, an Asian woman, is in a kneeling pose as she looks out the coloured windows of the Light Tunnel at Aura, an interactive large-scale public art installation of rainbow colours. In the Light Tunnel she is where the colours of the panels go from shades of pink, red, orange and yellow. She is wearing a white wrap dress with flutter sleeves and a ruffled edge at the hemline. Placed in front of her is her white cane. The expression on her face is one of deep thought and struggle as she looks out the coloured glass panels.

Hi, my name is Anne, and I am a digital storyteller, seeking beauty with purpose and inspiration to the visually impaired and chronic migraine community to make the view accessible. Thank you Bold Blind Beauty for welcoming me here, and I am so honored to be a part of this empowered community.

Losing Sight To Cone-Rod Dystrophy

I am a wife and mom with vision loss. I was diagnosed with cone-rod dystrophy, an inherited eye disorder. Unfortunately, I was not diagnosed until adulthood.

Growing up, I always had very poor vision. I had also struggled in school, I just wanted to fit in like every other kid. I spent long hours on homework and was terrible at sports. I was also a child of parents immigrating to Canada, and I had other siblings who had corrective lenses. So my very poor vision loss was never fully questioned.

I started working in the healthcare field. And now as I reflect back, I had relied on a lot of hacks to get by, including muscle memory, and detailed organization skills. I always felt that something wasn’t quite right with my vision. And because of my experience working in the healthcare field, and advocating for others, I was able to advocate for myself, after many years to ultimately get the diagnosis for cone-rod dystrophy.

Unexpected Chronic Diagnosis

However, suddenly, and unexpectedly, on January 1, 2019, I woke up with a migraine-like headache that to this day, is still ongoing. I was diagnosed with NDPH (new daily persistent headache), I reached the lowest point in my emotions, as I was literally living in darkness, and no longer able to work.

The pandemic has magnified the struggles of the visually impaired community, and those isolated by chronic illnesses. I also saw the struggle of many businesses and wanted to find some small way to help. I wanted to start something to make a difference and focus on seeing and finding beauty in everything while making an emotional connection. Not only within the visually impaired community but also with the sighted community. I wanted the beauty to be accessible for all.

Breaking Barriers Through Representation

The Power of Women is Infinite - A powerful street wall mural titled “The Power of Women is Infinite” painted by the talented @vernabrownart in shades of pink that is bright, colourful, vibrant and includes various shapes and sizes. Anne, an Asian woman, stands in front of this wall posing with her white cane. She is wearing a blue/grey cardigan and navy pencil skirt with wedge sandals. Sunglasses are on top of her head.

Representation matters and I wanted to break barriers and so I began my Instagram account at Purpose In View. Through storytelling, I see beauty in everything and make that emotional connection through beautiful images and make it accessible by providing image descriptions and alt text. I have been learning how to do audio descriptions and figuring out how to make reels more accessible by providing video descriptions.

When I do an Instagram post, I make a conscious effort to support small or local businesses by tagging or mentioning them, and including alt text and image descriptions to the products I’ve purchased. This allows for these products to be accessible for all, as the visually impaired community is given the opportunity in these posts to see what the product is like. Shopping local and supporting our small businesses is important to me, while also ensuring that the visually impaired community is not left behind.

I want to build up and inspire this community so that we can continue to make a difference. As I began my vision loss journey, I searched for persons that were a reflection of me. My diagnosis was a genetic one and there was no one in my family that I knew of that had this condition. I was looking outward to find connection.

Lifting Others With Our Stories

Anne@PurposeInView at the Stanley Park Seawall - Anne, an Asian woman, is walking with her white cane along the Stanley Park seawall in Vancouver, BC. She is smiling and looking out to her left at the water. She is wearing a white drop waist dress and suede espadrilles. There are low hanging trees in the background. (Photo Credit: Hayley @Flytographer)

Representation matters. And it’s important to share my story and our stories to bring more awareness, compassion, and empathy. Legacy is also why I felt it was important to share my story for my children, not only for genetics and their own health journey but for them to be adaptable and resilient in life. And for others going through the same.

Genetics may play a role, but you write your story. I am the author of my own narrative. I can change my perspective. The opposite of blindness is view. There is so much pride in the sense of community in the ways we share and think about accessibility, and how we reclaim and celebrate our visibility in public. We all have something so unique to offer, and experiences to share to make the world a better place. Let’s continue to inspire others to live to their full potential.

Anne’s Bio

Anne @PurposeInView is a Digital Storyteller seeking beauty with purpose and inspiration to the Visually Impaired and Chronic Migraine Community to make the view accessible.

Diagnosed with Cone Rod Dystrophy in adulthood and NDPH (New Daily Persistent Headache) in January 2019 she reached the lowest point in her emotions after no longer being able to work and needing to live in darkness to deal with the chronic migraines.

As the pandemic wore on she saw the struggles of the Visually Impaired Community and small businesses and wanted to find some small way to help.

Despite having to spend her time in darkness and indoors managing her chronic pain and also her sensitivity to light it is in those times that the creativity in her still exists. She focuses on making the best use of her time when she has low pain days so that she can live to her potential and thrive. 

Her vision is to inspire a barrier-free world with a clear vision and purpose to live to their full potential.

She hopes to leave a lasting legacy of resilience, adaptability and to leave a positive imprint on the world. Follow Anne on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Pinterest: @purposeinview

Connecting With Anne

Connecting With Bold Blind Beauty

Image Descriptions

  1. The header and Beyond Sight Magazine Cover contain this image: Anne, an Asian woman, is leaning with her right shoulder against the base of the curved wall of the Lighthouse at Stanley Park in Vancouver, BC. Her left hand is brushing her hair behind her ear. She is wearing a white drop waist dress and suede espadrilles. In the background is water and a forest of trees. (Photo Credit: Hayley @Flytographer)
  2. Beyond Sight Magazine contains the photo of Anne in (1) with this text “Anne | A Digital Storyteller With A Purpose In View”
  3. Seeing Beauty to Make an Emotional Connection – Anne, an Asian woman, is in a kneeling pose as she looks out the coloured windows of the Light Tunnel at Aura, an interactive large-scale public art installation of rainbow colours. In the Light Tunnel she is where the colours of the panels go from shades of pink, red, orange and yellow. She is wearing a white wrap dress with flutter sleeves and a ruffled edge at the hemline. Placed in front of her is her white cane. The expression on her face is one of deep thought and struggle as she looks out the coloured glass panels.
  4. The Power of Women is Infinite – A powerful street wall mural titled “The Power of Women is Infinite” painted by the talented @vernabrownart in shades of pink that is bright, colourful, vibrant and includes various shapes and sizes. Anne, an Asian woman, stands in front of this wall posing with her white cane. She is wearing a blue/grey cardigan and navy pencil skirt with wedge sandals. Sunglasses are on top of her head.
  5. Anne@PurposeInView at the Stanley Park Seawall – Anne, an Asian woman, is walking with her white cane along the Stanley Park seawall in Vancouver, BC. She is smiling and looking out to her left at the water. She is wearing a white drop waist dress and suede espadrilles. There are low hanging trees in the background. (Photo Credit: Hayley @Flytographer)
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