You've accidentally stumbled on the Facebook page of someone you went to high school with. Profile pic is them at their wedding. The last post was 5 years ago and it's a picture of a lake. The other most recent post shocks you. It's you, wishing them a happy birthday in 2016.
I wonder if “gifted kid burnout” is just: You learn to navigate by the reward signal of achievement (easy, ppl tell you how to get it) so you never develop the more subtle ability to navigate by what interests you. Then when achievement gets sparse, you feel aimless & unmotivated
so much of adulthood is just grieving in secret. grieving ex lovers, grieving dead friendships, grieving your parents sinking into old age, grieving the person you thought you'd grow into. grieving cities you never got to live in. grieving parts of you that couldn't survive.