Galacticat Banner: That Alien Feeling - UFO 2023

Do you ever feel like an alien? Do you fit in with the current narratives within society? They say that humans are social creatures and that we are meant operate as a tribe. While I love meeting and connecting with people, I also wish I could feel fully secure in these connections. I often feel like no matter how close I become with someone or with a specific group, they will never fully understand me or my life experience and will eventually decide I am a 'throw away' friend. I have thought prior that I am a 'stepping stone' to better things as a way to cope when the other party gets tired of trying because I have walls built around me. I have vivid memories of growing up as a young child, happy and excited, but over time learned how "strange" I was. Though I have never really understood what makes me all that strange, truthfully. I have interests, emotions, excitement for life, passion and try my best to encourage others when I can. I sincerely try my best, even when my best is not enough. I also believe I mask very well and I genuinely care about the wellbeing of others. I try my best to live up to the social expectations that society puts on people, only I take them seriously, which I have recently learned that 'normal' people do not. I read they use these social expectations almost as a way to gain clout or notoriety and connect with other humans rather than abiding by them in full. That concept is so strange to me, even as I type this. I have a memory of my biological mother trying to jokingly convince me that we were aliens from another planet. She did this because I came home from school upset that I was "weird". I want to assume some other child had said something to me or that I felt hurt in some way. She told me about how "weird" was cool and to embrace it. This is one of the few pleasant childhood memories I have of my mother, but I remember it because even though it was rooted in fiction, I have always felt a longing for somewhere else. A place where I fit. Truthfully though, I do not even know what that place would look like. Perhaps I once did when I was a young child, but now I don't know if I even know myself enough to imagine such a place.

Why are social constructs to rigid? Why do people give a shit about social norms? What does it mean to be 'human' when humans can come in so much variety and operate on spectrums.