Music Monday – Am I the Only One?

Today’s musical inspiration comes from Migraine by Twenty One Pilots. As with other musical inspirations certain lyrics stand out to me:

Am I the only one I know waging my wars behind my face and above my throat?

Migraine is such an isolating disease that it’s easy to feel like you’re the only one who deals with it. The good news is that our perception is not reality. In fact, one in four households in the U.S. are affected by migraine. In every 4th house on your street, someone lives with migraine. Roughly 12% of the population is affected, totaling over 36 million. Your loved ones and co-workers may not admit it, but there are a lot of people you know who face migraine, too.

I am not as fine as I seem.

If you have migraine, this statement will be all too familiar. We get accused of “faking it” all too often. The reality is that we do fake it. We fake being healthy and pain-free just to have one more moment not controlled by our brains. We do “tough it out” and “suck it up” far more frequently than anyone will ever know.

Behind my eyelids are islands of violence.

Yes! Many of us use the expression, “My head is going to explode.” to explain the intense pressure, pounding, and burning that hides behind our eyes. Our heads truly are a boiling cauldron just waiting to ignite. No wonder sometimes we are irritable and impatient.

One of these artists has to have migraine disease. The lyrics are too accurate to have been written by an observer. There is a tone of desperation only someone with migraine disease could create. Yet there is also hope in the encouraging words, “We made it this far, kid.”

Yes, we have.

This article is part of the July 2016 Ultimate Blog Challenge