I had also developed my own culture. Work.
Over the years, I had taken labor as my companion and had moved everything else to the side.

I wrote articles about rich athletes who, for the most part, could not care less about people like me.
.. My days were full, yet I remained, much of the time, unsatisfied.
What happened to me?

.. I thought about him now and then, the things he had taught me about 'being human' and 'relating to others;, but it was always in the distance, as if from another life.. .. The people who might have told me were long forgotten, their phone numbers buried in some packed-away box in the attic.

You have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn't work, don't buy it.

You have to work at creating your own culture.

So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half asleep, even when they're busy doing things they think are important. This is because they're chasing the wrong things.
The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, to your community around you, to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.