Hi Laure

You post is very eye opening to what it must be like to be wired differently to a lot of people. You communicate that beautifully.In my limited experience we are all on a ‘spectrum’ no one process the world in exactly the same way or needs exactly the same things from others in their social interactions.

The idea that we can only find happiness from other people is so common in the media, culture etc and at its base root is true in that we are social animals – we rely on co-operations with others to survive and raise children (unfortunately unlike other animals they don’t just pop out fairly self sufficient or just take a couple of months to mature!) However taken to the extreme it can be seriously damaging as the ability to be emotionally self sufficient and having an excellent relationship with your self I am discovering is key to being healthy and having healthy relationships.

I think the focus you are taking of working on accepting you as you and working through the idea that you need others in the way society portrays is a wise one. As you are more comfortable with who you are that is an attractive (in the sense it attracts people to you) quality. If you are able to explain to people who you are and be ok that some people are not going to get it, and that that says as much about them and their issues as it ever does about you, you will slowly find people who will appreciate you and be your social network, may be not many (I only have three true friends!) but they will be real honest friendships based on who you actually are as people and not the ‘needs exchanges’ that many social relationships are based on.

Sending you a non touching hug 🙂