There’s a song by John Lennon
It’s called ‘Nobody Told Me’
I can’t even begin to count how many times I’ve used the lyrics to update my Facebook status
Or to caption my Instagram pictures
And most definitely whispered under my breath
It’s not particularly mind blowing
But it pretty much sums up an average day in my life
In the life of someone with mental illness
In the life of someone with a chronic and incurable illness
I wonder sometimes
If someone had told me that days like this could happen
Would it have prepared me better
Would it have armed me with the tools I need to make it through that day
Would it have given me the weapons I need to face another day
Part of me thinks so
Maybe Lennon was on to something when he lamented that he wasn’t warned for what reality would become
Because that’s the thing isn’t it?
Once upon a time in his life
In my life
Maybe even in yours
It wasn’t this way
Maybe yesterday
Maybe a long long time ago
It was different
Maybe if someone had told me
I would have appreciated it then
Or maybe I could have preserved it better
Like a photograph that keeps life frozen in time
But now I’m stuck in the present
Facing each day blind
And now I’m here
On nights like these
That nobody told me about
With only the song lyrics of a long dead rockstar to keep me company
‘Nobody told me there’d be days like these…
Strange days indeed’
