Thank you very much for your thoughts, Lleff. You’re right; education doesn’t necessarily translate into social or emotional intelligence. I’m sorry you felt the pain of that deficit in your own parents (or just your dad?). You also have a good point about meeting someone who seemed to have hung onto all his dreams: yes, I thought many a time about how I would’ve likely ended up much like him if not for the types of (gender-based) traumas I had. Basically, it was a glimpse of who I could’ve become if I’d been a man and therefore not subjected to the violence of the patriarchy in the ways that I had been. But it still inspired me to try to resolve some of my lingering traumas once and for all… or at least find ways to work around them.

Fulfillment might be a first-world problem, but I don’t see it as an upper-class or even middle-class problem. Growing up blue-collar, I saw how much my parents struggled. A big drive in my desire for fulfillment came from that: realizing that I could work my ass off all my life in a job I hate, or I could work my ass off all my life in a job I love, and nothing would guarantee that the struggle would be worth it… so I might as well pick something I love. I’m also honestly not sure how neurotypical I am; I’ve noticed that I have a lot of ADHD tendencies, and ADHD runs in my family. I wasn’t sure I understood what you meant about people with a high tolerance for bullshit being terrified of emotional discomfort; generally, accepting bullshit tends to bring LOTS of emotional discomfort. ;) But I think it’s great, honestly, when people set the bar at at a basic level of general wellbeing. There’s always room and time to reach beyond it, but choosing not to pressure yourself too much at the beginning is the much more sustainable way to go. :)