personally, i find it hard to care for myself when i’m not being cared for from others. not that i need someone all the time (very used to the solitude atp); it just makes me feel like “what’s the point?”, like the tree in the forest thing, why does it matter if i’m in shape or taking care of my hygiene or improving as a person if no one is there to even notice or acknowledge it?
i used to believe in the “do it for yourself” mentality but that’s the same mentality that led to me being completely isolated. these days i’ve built enough resilience to continue healthy habits and take care of myself more than i used to, mainly out of spite, and i try to consider my life experience and body/mind/soul just part of my life ‘experiment’ that i’ll see through to the end just so i can have a good laugh about it before it’s all over.
idk as someone who worked multiple jobs with kids the “stare” usually means you as an adult are not engaging enough
also seen plenty of millenials genX and boomers do this same “stare” when you say something they don’t want to comprehend