Life, that’s what they call it…

This Thing Called… Life

Life? So, you wake up, fall out bed, trip over your pile of dirty laundry. Survive the trip down to the kitchen where you can eat your bowl of Life cereal, play the game of Life, and watch the movie “Life”.

The game of Life has you getting married, having children, getting a job and making the wonderful decision of whether or not you want to buy insurance. Which seems to follow the ideas that get shoved in your head from the time your an adult.

Must get married, must have children, must have job, must pay taxes and die. These are things you will find in culture, the Bible and who knows where else. But Life is also what you live through.

Life can be a traumatic experience, a moment of immense happiness, or falling into the deepest darkest pit of despair. No one can ever tell you how to interpret the events that occur in your life. Which means that something can be traumatic to one person, but not the next.

The song “Colours” by Group Love dives into the darker elements of Life. The uncomfortable things that people do not like to talk about. That elephant in the room that gets blamed when things go bad, you know… mental illness.

Depression, anxiety, personality disorders, and so on… I believe that there is more awareness of depression and of mental illness in general since 2000. I remember when I first started my struggle it was a dirty secret, and when I asked my parents for help I got a guilt trip about what it would do to them.

Now, there’s so much more out there and I hope that the commercials and the word are getting out there. I feel like it’s easier for people to get help when they hit a wall, like I did. I feel like it’s less of a social abnormality than it was, but what if we just call it “Life”.

Everyone has struggles, everyone has ups and downs. Instead of seeing the differences, let’s embrace “the colours that we share”. Use the colors to show that we are all the same and Life “really ain’t that bad”, because we are all in it together.

Life is hard and there are a lot of people out there struggling with it. People who need to know that they are not alone and that it can be weathered.

The song “Colours” by Group Love talks about the colors that are shared, which is the shared life experiences. That there’s no need to be sad, because it’s not as bad as perceived. It talks about being a friend after something happens and acting like nothing has changed, meaning that a mental illness or breakdown doesn’t change the friendship. It reassures the listener “just know I’m just like you”, meaning that they too are having struggles. That all of this is “Life”. The end brings it all together to say that openness, acceptance, sharing the struggle is “Love”.

Life isn’t cut and dry, and neither is Love. We are al human and have struggles, but be sure that you are never alone in your struggle. There are others out there that share the same struggles (Colours). Don’t be afraid to ask for help or share your experiences. We’re all on this planet together doing this thing called “Life”, so let’s work together at it.