Hmm. Not sure how to phrase this but here goes anyway.
This is the third time I've been to the USA. The first time had largely no effect. The second had a big effect which I in part put down to meeting a cute girl. Although this time despite the distinct lack of said cute girl this time I'm feeling the same effect.
As I've mentioned to some people before I'm going through ... changes ... which are bringing me back in line with the person I feel I should always have been. At the very least I'm feeling more and more like the person I want to be. Visiting the USA is giving me time to loose myself a little bit. Actually thats the point I guess. It's giving me time to loose my old self which is working wonders for helping me to remember who I really am and who I want to be.
Well this is sounding a little out there I guess, so to reign this in a little; it's all leaving me with a bit of a problem. There is of course no issue with the friends I have (let me stress that first of all). But I feel my space in the friendship circles I have formed thus far is suddenly the wrong shape. I no longer fit. This doesn't threaten the friendships I have. Though this may put them all under a little more strain than usual and I see no reason why they will be any less relevant to the person I'm becoming than they are now. Indeed existing friends will most likely not not notice the change. But I am noticing the difference between the way new friends relate to me and the way old ones do and this seems to go much further than friendships simply becoming deeper over time.
So to resolve this issue I'm not looking to change the way I relate to existing friends, but instead make new friends. There in lies the biggest problem.
How to find new friends? This is something I've always just fallen into. But I'm feeling a greater and greater need to actively go out and find new friends. Heck, part of this is the need to make friends with more girls (not just girl friends but actual friendships with persons of the opposite gender). The idea of handing out flyers, or going up to people and asking "will you be my friend" seems unlikely to yield much fruit. I am at a loss for a way to get my foot in the door of some new friendship groups.
So here's me. Sending out this quite embarrassingly revealing SOS to ask for any advice or suggestions on how to go about meeting new people. Also how do you get past that awfully uncomfortable barrier of suggesting to another person that perhaps you might like to take a friendship beyond chatting once and never again?
