I read this article about the difficulty of making friends and it totally resonated with me. I too have a very difficult time making lasting relationships and finding new friends I can trust, not just for chit chatting when I walk out of the house or while I wait for my kids at school.

I mean, REAL friends, the kind you can call at 2:00 AM because your dog ran away and your friend will be calling out your dog’s name in the streets in pj’s with you.

I guess it does not help that I am an introvert. I like interacting with people, but I prefer to do it on my own terms, and when it has a meaningful purpose besides commenting on the weather just to remove the awkwardness of silence some people can’t stand. I rather just read the news or look at inspiring images on my phone than having to submit myself for interacting for the sake of interacting.

Then I see my younger kid, he’s a natural extrovert and has absolutely no problem making friends when he goes to a new place, and how natural the interaction between small children is.

They do not judge you based on the clothes you wear, what kind of car you drive, what kind of work yo do or how much you make. They just like you and think you are cool because you play with them.

It made me wonder at what time did we loose that ability to just be friendly and open up. I miss those time when I made my best friends and wonder why I have such a hard time.

My career choice does not help either, I chose a difficult one to accept after all. I am an artist, and to a lot of people, it means I spend my time goofing off and doodling on sketchbooks while I see the days go by, waiting for “inspiration” to reach me. And then, what do I do with that? Just paint and make dolls when I could be changing the world by filling report after report in an office cube?

Since answering like Jack Black “I service society by rocking” is not an acceptable answer to the question “And what do you do?” When I meet someone outside the art community, I did what an artist would do. I created a painting about my best friends! 😂

I am thankful for the internet and social media. I am happy to have found friends that understand me, that like what I make, friends I can trust and talk to online and the phone, but sometimes I wish I could drop by and say hi with a bottle of wine just to goof for a while.

Does that happen to you often? How do you deal with it? What do you do when you are in that situation? Tell me in the comments! I’d love to hear that I am not alone in the world!