thank you for compiling this, being intentional about friendships is something i've been thinking about a lot lately but don't see much discussion about. i will vouch for the concept that people not reaching out doesn't mean they're not interested in being friends. i had an acquaintance who is bad at responding to people, but after reaching out to them they became my best friend. i think my current problem is expanding my social sphere, because i don't really fit into a lot of groups so i feel like a poser going to their events. (i feel that posting here too, as i'm too spiritual to be a rationalist. maybe there's some degree of imposter syndrome, though.) so that leads me to my question, how do you deal with the amount of discomfort putting yourself out there like this causes?