I pay rent to my landlord and go work for my boss. Far to much human interaction on my plate for this guy.

I’ve been there. For me, personally, the problem was that I was so afraid to open up and worshipped so much other people that I pretty much lost myself. I ended up being surrounded by people who aren’t interested in me, who don’t fit me. And then when I started discovering myself, opening up more and being more sincere, I just attracted the right people who I always know what to talk about and who are interested in me. But this is of course my personal experience, your situation might be entirety different.

Drugs, honestly, but I strongly caution against that route.

I feel you though; I really do have no one, and I literally mean no one, to talk to. I was in a long term relationship until recently, and because I let him become my whole world, now that he’s gone I have no one in my life at all.

I’m also on permanent disability due to lyme disease, and have to get all my groceries delivered because its too hard for me a lot of the time to go get them myself. Thus, literal weeks often go by without me having a reason to step outside, or talk to another human.

I’m sure my neighbours in the adjacent suites think im a psychopath for talking to my cat like she’s a person every day, but if I didn’t I might forget how to talk, lol.

So, how do I cope, when its not drugs (though it’s usually drugs)? Well, I don’t really, but because I believe so strongly in my version of the theory of quantum immortality, I feel I can’t kill myself because anything I’d try, I’d survive. I’d be guaranteed to just end up with brain damage or a worse physical disability or something if I get any more serious with my suicide attempts. Essentially, it’s only for that I have no choice but to go on, that I go.

Oh, fun fact- this recent ex of mine, we were broken up over Christmas last year too, so I’m going on my second year of a zero human contact Christmas.

In the words of Aesop Rock, Jesus Christ my life is dismal.

Why don’t you have a cat or dog ?

Talk to the people you know about what they want to talk about

Build a relationship with your neighbour. If you feel lonely, just grab a few fruits or snacks from your pantry and knock on their door saying you bought to much. You’ll win a smile and a nice yet short conversation. Do this a few times and suddenly they will do the same.

I post on Lemmy lol.

If you’re a bit of a nerd I suggest looking up local tabletop RPG groups and giving it a shot. It’s one of the easier ways to be social as an introvert. It has a sort of regimented system of socializing that everyone understands, with an end time and an obvious goal. Once I’m in a better spot myself (life has been rough the past bit but it’s looking up) I might do this myself.

But for now drinking and watching shows and shitposting on Lemmy still works for me lol. Used to post on Reddit, 100k+ karma there, Not banned, but I am sick of reddit’s BS, so now I’m here instead, sorry y’all.

PS: I’m staying at a monthly rate in a hostel, and I go to a couple local food banks. There’s a “free food” area in the communal kitchen that I stock up once or twice a week because where I live the food banks are extraordinarily generous.

People have started to notice and been thanking me, and as a result they’ve been striking up conversations and getting to know me. (I am very much an introvert.) So I’ve been socializing a lot more than I normally do as a result.

Too esoteric to recommend, but figured I’d add this random ass story as socializing can happen in the strangest of ways at times.

I haven’t been on for a few years but when I was in a similar situation VRChat was amazing. I was able to connect with people I clicked with and before I knew it was had a pretty cool friend group.

Sounds like you have people you can call? If so, ask someone to go do something physical together where conversation doesn’t have to be center-stage, like hiking. If you live in a place where there’s good hiking spots with challenging terrain, such as steep hills (hopefully accompanied by beautiful views), you might be too out of breath for the absence of conversation to be unnatural.

How about book clubs? I’m in a couple, and my neighborhood has monthly silent book clubs (bookended with socializing time). Both an opportunity to socialize during meetups, and a great way to occupy your time in between.

Weed was my replacement for socializing in the pandemic. Can’t recommend it, as it also ruined my motivation to go out, and I would avoid picking up the phone while high. These days I go out for a walk and talk to strangers about the weather instead of smoking. It’s been great, and I made a several friends in the process.

Well how do you like to spend your time? Finding people to share your hobbies with is a great way to build community

Have you considered following a sport? Following local sports teams has always been an effective way to strike up a conversation for me. For one, it’s easy to identify who to talk to, since they wear apparel that identifies them as a fan of a team they follow, and also it’s really easy to know what they’re likely interested in talking about, since there are lots of resources (podcasts, broadcasts, blogs, etc) that direct the conversation. It’s super easy — I sat down on the bus yesterday across the aisle from someone in a Sounder’s hat and we talked the new Rothrock and Frei deals. I’ve never seen that dude before in my life and probably never will again, but finding common ground and something inoffensive to chat about was super easy because we follow the same team.