New people, new chances! So I just started a new job at a big engineering firm. From day one I try to connect with everyone I meet. Confident that all encounters will go well. Hopefully, I can make a few new friends among my colleagues. Just like all the awesome people I befriended at my last job. As we have lunch, slurping some cheap goulash soup, I try to go to a deeper level. But my newfound lunchmates were reluctant, rather discussing the weather. The weather?!? Fuck that! Only then I realize, I don’t know any of these people, not really, nor do they know me. Despite being surrounded by people, it feels lonely. … [Read more...]
3 strategies to make friends IRL – even if you feel socially left behind
At the beginning of my college years, I was alone a lot, it sucked. I had this gaping hole but didn’t know what to do with it. So I ground away my time. Gaming, watching movies. Numbing myself. Feeling lonely. I was not really making friends. Yeah, I knew a few people. My stoner roommates for example. Cool guys, but not the relief from social isolation I craved. No offense stoners, but you are not that talkative while on a semester-long smoking binge :). A lot of people are familiar with periods of loneliness. Maybe even you. It can feel like everybody already has a great social life. But you are just left behind somehow. Why are you the one without normal social skills? Wouldn’t it be awesome if you could have a group of cool friends? … [Read more...]