No one has it easy.

And Down Syndrome hasn't made life any easier for Wiscasset's Anna McDougal.

“It takes me extra time to understand some things. I have my ups and downs,” she said.

McDougal said the disability made it harder to deal with her parents' divorce, her sister's move to college and the death of a friend.

But along the way, the 34-year-old New Hampshire native found a number of things that helped, from counseling to listening to the Indigo Girls.

The folk-rock, singing-songwriting duo's lyrics have helped her believe she would be OK.

“Their music really helped me through,” she said. “It's like they understood how I felt.”

McDougal has met the duo at concerts; she once got to join them in singing “Closer to Fine” on stage.

Then there's Spindleworks, the Independence Association's nonprofit arts center in Brunswick. McDougal works as an artist there.

She learned about the center from her sister, Amy Burchstead, who volunteered there while attending Bowdoin College.

McDougal said she loves it at the center. “They're so supportive, the staff and friends I've met there,” she said.

“I never had that kind of community growing up, a little but not that much, and I have this because of my sister.”

McDougal now serves on the board of directors for Speaking up for Us of Maine. The coalition (online at www.sufumaine.org) helps people with disabilities to know their rights and advocate for themselves.

She describes herself as very positive. “That's who I am. I don't like to be negative.”

McDougal lives and helps out at Buckwheat Blossom Farm, owned by Burchstead and her husband Jeff Burchstead.

The vegetable gardens and animals at the farm off Willow Lane inspire McDougal's paintings.

The artist, writer and advocate said one of the best parts about living in Wiscasset is getting to spend time with her nephew and nieces, the Burchsteads' three children.

“I love being an aunt,” she said.

Now that her mother and stepfather have moved from New Hampshire to just down the road from her, she feels like she has everything she needs to be happy, she said.

When she wanted to write an autobiography, Blackberry Books publisher Gary Lawless, a 30-year volunteer with Spindleworks, gave her a challenge: If she wrote it, he'd publish it.

Writers at Spindleworks usually focus on poetry or other short pieces, Lawless said.

“It was kind of a dare,” he said of the offer to McDougal.

After two years, McDougal was done writing, and Lawless had a book to publish. “A Look Back” touches on the obstacles McDougal has faced, including the food allergies that Down Syndrome can come with. The book also gives thanks to McDougal's family and friends, and the Indigo Girls.

McDougal's enthusiasm makes her a good role model for anyone, Lawless said.

“She's like a ball of energy,” he said. “And she's having a good life.”

McDougal is looking forward to a book-signing for “A Look Back,” at 4:30 p.m October 25, at Gulf of Maine Books in Brunswick. She hopes to hold one in Wiscasset, too.

She's already looking ahead to writing another book. She had always wanted to write a book about her life and, now that she has, she needs to pick a subject for the next one, she said.

That's not her only aspiration, however. McDougal wants to visit teaching colleges to speak with future educators about how they can better serve the needs of students with disabilities like Down Syndrome and autism, she said.