Pretty difficult question, knowing who you really are. I think when you start thinking about it, you don't really know in the end. If someone says something friendly about you, you are inclined to keep it alive and to continue to be the way the other person would like to see you. We mainly know who we are through encountering and being together with others. If we were always alone and surrounded by aliens, we would lose our identity and perhaps go mad, because we would lack to reflect or recognize ourselves about the world around us. Seen this way, you are not an emotional vampire, just a human being who recognizes himself in the other :) The real can only be something you have experienced as real, can't it? But of course I know what you mean: If we want to acquire a fake identity and be someone we are not, always want to please, ignore or dominate others, the world will notice that and react accordingly.

You can't not communicate and how you live in the world, determines how much money you have to get on a train or a plane.

Hey, that was philosophical now, I hope you don't mind.