One of the most amazing things about mathematics is the people who do math aren't usually interested in application because mathematics itself is truly a beautiful art form. It's structures and patterns and that's what we love and that's what we get off on.
Almost all of your life is lived by the seat of your pants one unexpected event crashing into another with no pattern or reason and then you finally reach a point around my age where you spend more time than ever looking back. Why did this happen? Look where that led? You see the shape of things.