I joined my college’s new culinary publication and, again, didn’t seem to connect with anyone there. I tried hanging with a couple of “squads” full of great people who just didn’t feel like people. I needed distraction and mindless girl talk with someone who “got it.” Was meeting a Twitter stranger a desperate move? Getting that coffee with an internet stranger was the best random decision I’ve ever made. We went from coffee, to an event, to dinner later in the evening.
Coming in hot off a breakup to that Wednesday coffee date, to be honest, I wasn’t sure I could take another blow. She told me about the long-distance saga with her ex-boyfriend. My heart hurt a little less than it had that morning.
(It hadn’t happened before, hasn’t happened since.) I’m glad Steph didn’t play it cool, either. Follow up on “soft” happy hour invites by similarly unsure people.
And after that, I’m glad we tried, hard, to make friends, because we did make some of the best friends. Chase people who carry the kind of energy you want to be around.
Proximity friends from high school had dissipated, naturally; when you don’t have much in common, those bonds don’t remain.