It’s easy to never leave. Anything I need can be delivered.
Nexflix to watch, Amazon to read, groceries dropped off for a small fee.
You say I must go out, be part of the world.
You say I have friends, should have friends, or will have friends depending on your argument for the day.
You tell me people interact, they build bonds, tribes, families. Come out you say, to a movie or a play. Let’s go visit this person or that and pretend they’re happy to see you.
Put on a nice dress and a smile. Nothing is prettier than a smile.
You list out my virtues, telling me all the reasons people like me: brains, humor, talent, imagination, compassion.
But your logic is weak. It’s based on people being reasonable and stable. It relies on them choosing simple over complex, and easy over exciting. You think other people are rational like you. You think they value substance over form.
I was thin and pretty when you met me. I was full of excitement and energy. I wasn’t afraid all the time, every moment of every day. I had big plans. Today I was supposed to be a CPA, a senior accountant on my way to CFO. I was going to wear nice suits and go to power lunches. I wanted to be a mother.
Instead I’m an unemployed cat lady in her pajamas peering out the window, checking all the locks.
You fell in love with my heart, which aside from the lack of courage has not changed. You fell in love with how much I love you, and love me for how much I love you still.
This me happened in slow motion and backwards.
Frame by frame, a butterfly goes back into the cocoon.
A beautiful garden becomes an empty lot.
A confident woman becomes a frightened child.
How is it that when you look at me you still see a butterfly?
***
This was written for the trifecta prompt Weak -3: not factually grounded or logically presented
I am 5 days into taking SSRIs for the first time. It is not supposed to do anything yet, but I feel horrible. My anxiety is way higher than normal, I feel alienated and depressed. This poem or prose, or whatever it is, is not very good but it is what I felt like doing today.