“Bill, I believe this is killing me”

He says, “Bill, I believe this is killing me”

As the smile ran away from his face

“Well I’m sure that I could be a movie star

If I could get out of this place”

Piano Man – Billy Joel

To me, these lyrics are perhaps the truest reflection of how most people feel about their lives; very few people want to be where they are, and everyone reckons they can be something more; a movie star, a singer, a celebrity, whatever. But they’re trapped – “if I could get out of this place”.

Quite sad really.

Perhaps there’s an antidote though. A way of converting the “if I could” conditional into a present tense “I can” or even “I am getting out of this place”. I don’t have a suggestion right now but if I keep firing words onto the screen perhaps one will appear so let’s see.

I guess I’d start by trying to figure out what’s keeping you in the place; is it an anchor like I spoke about in this post or is there some kind of financial instability or are you not leaving because you don’t actually want to go and you’re just caught in a kinda groundhog day loop where you say you want to leave but never do – which is what everyone in small towns tends to say.

Assuming it’s an anchor, it might be a serious burden but you can still cut the rope, so generally this one is more an emotional issue and you’re just refusing to deal with the situation out of complacency but memento mori! Cut the fucking rope and go be who you want to be.

Say it’s financial instability, this one can be a real cunt but handle your necessary debts first, then move to a low cost of living place and graft like a dog. If you really are “sure you could be a movie star” then prove it. Work for it. If you aren’t willing to put the effort in you won’t get the result. – If you want something you’ve never had, you have to do something you’ve never done.

And finally if you’re not leaving because you actually kinda want to stay then stop fucking saying you want to leave. Is it for the aesthetic? To appear… What? Ambitious? Wanting to do things is not a personality trait. Act.

There you go, kind of an antidote…