I don’t need to be someone’s favorite person, I don’t think. But I’ve grown exhausted with “uneven” friendships. I feel like every relationship I try to maintain, it’s a one sided effort. I’m the only one reaching out. I take note of their interests and utilize that info, send them cool links, spark convos, etc. But don’t really get it in return.
Perhaps that’s too demanding of me? Unrealistic? If so, I don’t think I understand what friendship is supposed to be and likely never will.
so is it this way for every relationship or are there some where the other person is always reaching out to you? totally agree, it's nice when both friends are equally reaching out and attempting to nourish the friendship
Same thing with me. I've joined a notorious uni known for ragging and bullying. Being friendless can make you their target. If not for that, I would rather be isolated than fruitlessly try and make friends.
What the fuck is wrong with your place that there is bullying at university? I think most people left that shit in high school, and I could have gone for days at uni without interacting with someone if I wanted..
Are you your own favorite person? If not, why not? What qualities about yourself make you feel like you're not worthy of being the person you enjoy spending the most time with? If you are your own favorite person, why does it matter if someone else feels like they'd rather spend time with you over anyone else? I feel if you enjoy your own company when you're completely alone then the relationships you develop with others become more genuine, because you actually enjoy spending time with those people, rather than just being desperate to not be alone with yourself.
I know you don't actually want people to individually answer. But for me, I'm always making mistakes, never working hard enough, always doing the wrong thing, etc. I try but never hard enough. I fail every day at the things I try to do and get everything wrong all the time...most of it in terms of social interaction.
Because I've been very isolated and alone all my life, including home schooling, when I'm alone there's this emptiness inside of me that never gets filled. I get so anxious when I'm alone and have slowly lost the ability to do things to distract myself from it.
Theres a difference between being lonely and alone, I used to be good at being alone but I've never been able to cope with being lonely. Life seems pointless without others in it.
Isolation is painful, I know that very well. There is a vast difference between having no one in your life and feeling incapable of being ok without company. People need community, we are social beings. The best advice I have for seeking friendship is to join groups you have affinity with. If you're particularly interested in politics, art, music, movies, gardening, anime, 3D printing, TTRPGs, whatever it is you love spending time doing, find people in your area who get together to do those things and try to join them.
If, on the other hand, you have friends and community but still can't stand the time you spend alone, address what about being by yourself creates that anxiety? What are you getting from constant company that you don't have alone?
Now that I think about it, I'm not sure who IS my favorite person (?) Is there such a person at all? Do I need to rank them? I like a lot of people but kind of shy away from the ranking contest
Fair, I tend to think in terms of affinity rather than ranking, i have high affinity with some people and less with others. it's not about rank, it's about... Vibes? I guess? There's probably a better word but codes it what comes to mind.
I mean, I would prefer to be my partner's favorite person, but I'm sure there are like 50 reasons that reveals I'm broken inside somehow. Or maybe it was that last part I added.
Of course, I just felt the premise was too specific to be relatable, because many people are someone's favorite, and it's not typical to wonder if you are someone's favorite even when your lonely. But maybe that's just me.
No. I matter a lot to some people who matter a lot to me. I don't need to be the most important person to anyone (other than my partner and our kitties; even then, she has lots of people who are more important in different ways, like her mom and brothers and her best friend since they were kids).
Cherish the people who matter to you. This feels like some real influencer-pilled shit.
tldr dated someone and felt it was serious and after breaking it off I never looked at friendships the same way
but the good thing is that this was a long time ago when I was young so I've focused on myself and ever since my motto has been to live purely for my hobbies and for myself
maybe it's selfish or whatever, I don't really care at this point
but friends are cherry on top, in terms of societal structure your family is supposed to be the people who ideally think of you as a favourite
my wife isn't the hottest woman on the planet to me and im not the hottest guy to her. My brother is real popular and maybe the favorite person of a bunch of folks. I doubt im the top for anything with anyone but you know. Thats fine. I don't need to be anything more than I am.