I'm actually not all that comfortable putting this forward, because I am inviting sharing on a level that is probably quite personal for most of us. I do not mind sharing, but I suppose sharing has to be reciprocal to feel fair, doesn't it? And if you do choose to participate and share and also to ask, I appreciate that you took that initiative.

Recently (in the last few years), I've been learning that perhaps not feeling comfortable about something doesn't mean I shouldn't try to explore it.

Likewise, when I was younger, I spoke to different people every day, I met new people very often, usually through common interests, and my interactions usually ended up leading to the both of us having a more friend-like relationship than just acquaintances. I was more impulsive, which of course had its downsides too, often leading to oversharing and actually pushing people away. You win some, you lose some, comes to mind.

And these days I feel like this never happens anymore. I rarely meet anyone new, I rarely put myself forward for it too. Have I become cowardly? I don't know what I might fear, other than losing some of my sense of self. Though I've been learning that sometimes you must lose something to gain something, too. I have a few people on the friends' list here on DV, I think because of this common interest of dreaming and sometimes deeper thought in general. It's one of the few places where I feel I can discuss certain ideas that nobody else has the time or interest for. But I think pretty much all of those friends were requests initiated by them, and not me.

I do not take for granted that I have a close loved one with whom I can share pretty much all of my thoughts; even so, life has never felt complete for me without interacting with people who are (initially) strangers.

However, when I do meet and interact with new people of late, despite whatever interests we may have, I sometimes end up feeling I have not connected with them on a basic level. This is mostly about stuff unrelated to DV, really. Still, in general I try to get people to interact more, both with myself and others (this thread is an example of that).


I suppose the simplest thought I can have here is; am I getting older and this thought process is just a reflection of that?

Deeper thoughts also form; as we get older, do we just become so complex that we essentially become... potentially, less connective with others? I'm not a chemist but it feels like a well-balanced molecule that doesn't need to add or take anything because it's chemically stable; molecules don't have desires or feelings that they need to satisfy, of course. This notion is relevant to how I was before too, less stable, trying to fill in different gaps in new ways.

So, anyway, in this thread I ask you to:

1) Share your thoughts on this subject. Or share your thoughts on your own (social) life, if you wish.
2) Ask me something similar or equal to what you have shared, that would only be fair, I believe.
3) Have fun and don't take things too seriously either.