You have to have friends who think your life's passion ain't shit. You have to hang out with people who simply do notttt give a crap about the thing that you find all consuming. Because if you don't, then when you're really stressed about that thing, your friends are also gonna be stressed about it, and you're just gonna end up in a stress feedback loop with no outside input.
But if you have friends who could not possibly give fewer fucks about your calling, then when you're really fucking stressed because it feels like it's your entire world, they can say, "...You know representation theory like... doesn't matter, right? Do you want to get takeout and play a video game? Let's get takeout and play a video game." And then you will get takeout and play a video game and feel a bit better.
