“A few months ago I had a strange, clarifying moment. I was sitting in a group dinner with my friends — people I've known for years — and I realized I was bored. Not temporarily. Genuinely bored, and also slightly uncomfortable, and definitely performing a version of myself I don't really recognize.

I love these people in an abstract way. We have history. But I don't think I actually like who I am around them. The conversations stay surface-level by unspoken agreement. Nobody talks about what they're actually going through. It's safe and hollow.

I'm 28. I work remotely. Most of the easy, proximity-based ways of meeting people have closed down. The idea of "putting yourself out there" sounds exhausting and somewhat infantilizing at this age.

How do you actually find new people who feel like home — not just people who are convenient — when you're an adult with no obvious shared spaces?”