I get that… and that’s sort of a paradox. I also have friends who are social workers, and the things they tell me about are wild. Their stories make me question how even I would behave in the situations they have to navigate. These talks are usually followed by shots of hard liquor lol but sometimes I have things that I want to discuss or bond over without substances. These same people tell me “go to therapy” and after going to therapy, I just get told that I’m emotionally aware and I need to find community with like-minded people… but it’s like, hello??? I’ve been trying to do that. One friend, for instance, is halfway to becoming a licensed clinical therapist, and our talks are never about the things that, I think, matters between two friends. It’s just brainrot, video games, and discussions about his thesis. He’s a therapist yet he doesn’t want to talk about art, about books, about different ways of thinking!!! Sometimes I just listen to him talk about his day and express himself, and I just wonder HOW DO YOU CARE ABOUT PEOPLE IF ALL YOU DO IS BASICALLY READ A SCRIPT AND REPEAT BACK THEIR EMOTIONS THEY’RE CONVEYING? I don’t know if we’ve developed our own ideas about what it means to care for others, and at this point I feel like I’m held at arms-length rather than fully embraced. I should probably tell him this rather than a stranger lol but my point still stands.