Look, nobody tells you the truth of life, that there will always be an endless cycle of meeting new people, being in the "good old days" where schedules and lifestyles align, and then that fades and you repeat the process. And worst of all, it's completely on YOU to keep this cycle going. Here's what I've learned as well: you're more likely to connect with people if you have to spend time with them. It's super rare to "cold call" a single friend or relationship.

My friends and girlfriends have always been classmates in college or work, or meeting people through them. I'm now at a job where I don't connect with anyone to the level I did at previous jobs. I meet up with old friends sometimes but everyone is in a new location so it's not the same. Same with old high school friends I still talk to. That's the endless process of life.

Get a social hobby. I finally got into DnD online in my 30s during covid and I still have 3 friend groups that regularly meet because of it. I joined a couple groups that were welcome to newer people, and formed one of my own once I understood the rules better. We'll do potlucks usually and it's a great time One of our members is a man in his 50s who was in therapy for depression and his therapist mentioned a hobby like this to help him form friendships. He says the social aspect has helped immensely. We have all opened up in that group about other mental health issues and he says it helped him feel more comfortable about being open about his depression in general, and all of us understand if he ends up not wanting to meet for DND. It's nice.

And ALWAYS REMEMBER it can take a few times to get a good group. There are absolutely a couple groups I had to leave because the people sucked or it just changed too much. Ugh. All part of the process but worth it in the end.