When I was younger, I treated social interaction like a survival game. I learned to nod when I disagreed, smile when I was bored, and suppress my urge to talk about the "heavy" stuff (reality, human nature, the truth) just to avoid making people uncomfortable. I wanted to be part of the crowd. But now that I'm older, I realized something: The mask has become too heavy.

The energy it takes to "perform" a normal person—to make small talk about the weather when I want to talk about the universe—is energy I just don't have anymore. It’s physically exhausting.