Who wants to hear a very long and convoluted metaphor for invisible illness/ chronic pain I came up with at 6am that probably only makes sense to me?
Imagine a world where everyone wears the exact same outfit. To put it on the morning you have to put on so many layers, and do up loads of buckles and buttons and laces all over. It’s time consuming. It’s tiring. The buckles poke and prod and cause great discomfort. But hey, at least EVERYONE is feeling the same, right?
Than maybe one day you make an offhand comment to someone about how hard the whole thing is. “What are you talking about??” they say. “the outfit just slips over your head, and the fastenings are Velcro!” and oh my god, you’ve spent so long thinking everyone found everyday life just as hard as you. But it turns out they don’t. They don’t have the same obstacles.
So you try and bring it up again. You try to explain how actually it takes you longer to get ready because of the extra steps. How uncomfortable you are. How tiring it is with the extra weight. But no one believes you, because what are you talking about? Look at you, we’ve got the same outfit on. You look fine. No way yours has all that extra stuff causing issues, that’s ridiculous.
Anyway all the tricky hidden clothing is chronic pain blah blah blah you get the metaphor. I’m tired. And I’m tired of trying to explain to healthy people that whilst I may look the same as them I have so much extra stuff weighing me down ya know?
