u/Repulsive-You-5702

Hi everyone,

I'm a 26 F living in Queens, NYC, and lately I've been feeling incredibly lonely. I'm hoping to get out of my shell and maybe make a few genuine connections.

One thing I've realized is that I struggle to connect with people beyond surface-level conversations. It feels like everyone already has their friend groups, and I'm still trying to figure out who I am and what I enjoy. Sometimes it feels like I'm learning myself from scratch.

A little about me: I have a guinea pig that I absolutely adore, I recently started taking pole dancing classes (and I'm surprisingly not terrible at it!), and I'm back in college full-time working toward my degree. I've also been in a long-term relationship for about four years, and we live together.

Even with all of that, I still feel alone a lot of the time. I really miss having feminine energy and people I can talk to openly, relate to.. I crave deeper connections where both people genuinely care about each other

Preferably only looking for female friends

If anyone else feels this way, I'd love to hear your story. How have you made friends as an adult? Has anyone else struggled to find meaningful connections?

I'm in my mid-20s and honestly, the loneliness is starting to affect my mental health.

I don't have any friends. Not one.

I have coworkers that I'm friendly with, but nobody I text, hang out with, or talk to outside of work. I don't have Instagram or Facebook, so I don't really have a way of connecting with people there either.

I've been bullied for most of my life, and because of that I've always felt weird, unwanted, and unlikeable. It sounds dramatic, but sometimes I genuinely feel like most of my borough hates me. Everywhere I go, I feel like the odd one out.

I've been with my boyfriend for over four years, we live together and he's had the same friend group his entire life. They game together, work together, talk every day, and have years of memories together. Watching that honestly hurts sometimes because I've never had that. Yes, I feel resentful but not in a way that I am angry TOWARDS HIM, I am angry at MYSELF. But i feel proud that I can acknowledge that feeling.

The worst part is that I feel embarrassed trying to make friends now. If I meet someone new, I feel stupid because I can already hear people saying, "You just met them." Meanwhile everyone else seems to have these lifelong friendships.

I know friendships have to start somewhere, but I feel so behind socially that I don't even know how to do it anymore.

Lately I've just been feeling sad, weird, unliked, unloved, and honestly kind of depressed. I keep wondering if there's something wrong with me or if other people my age are going through the same thing.

Has anyone else struggled with this?

It's been over six years since I've actually had a friend. At this point, I've started to wonder if maybe I'm just different. Maybe I'm just a weirdo. For reference I am a 26 F, I've been with my boyfriend for a little over four years now, we live together, and we've known each other for about six years total. We have a lot in common, but there are some big differences. I don't have a good relationship with my family. (His family doesn't like me at all) I don't have any friends outside of work colleagues. The friends I used to have either moved away or have families of their own now.

I think what I crave more than anything is a sense of belonging.

My boyfriend games regularly and spends hours every day talking to his friends (no problem with that btw). They even work together. I KNOW I can get jealous of that, and I ACKNOWLEDGE it. It's not that I don't want him to have those relationships. I just wish I had even one person of my own. Yes, I feel resentful, but not in an angry way.

I was bullied for most of my life, and I don't think I've ever had a true friend. I always felt like the odd one out. Even going back to college earlier this year, I went through an entire semester without making a single friend. Maybe it's because I work six days a week and barely have time for myself or time to attend clubs/free hour.

I recently started taking pole dancing classes because I wanted to become more feminine and maybe meet people. My partner has told me that I'm not really feminine, and that hurt. I try my best, but I have not been surrounded by any sort of femanine energy in over 6 years

I just want one person.

Humans crave connection. We want to be chosen, included, thought of. I feel like I've spent my entire life watching everyone else build those relationships while standing outside looking in.

I'm scared that I'm letting my life pass me by, and I don't know how to fix it.

Starting a summer class literally Monday June 1st but it hasn’t appeared on my bright space and I have not heard any information from the professor…
Update: class supposedly starts today and I’ve had NO communication from the professor. Paying for this shit out of pocket to. Not cool.