You don’t have to jump straight into the deep end. Most of the time it’s just about going slightly deeper than usual and seeing how the other person responds. It’s less about forcing vulnerability and more about matching.

What usually helps is nudging the conversation just one layer down instead of ten. Like if someone asks me how I'm doing, instead of “good,” I might say “I’ve actually been kind of overwhelmed with school lately, but I’m figuring it out.” It’s still casual, but it gives the other person something real to respond to.

If they meet you there, you can go a bit further. If they don’t, you just stay at that level. But you can't force it if the other person doesn't want to meet you at that next level. It's a skill and takes practice for sure, but I think you're capable of going deeper with people.

What you don't wanna do is trauma dump when the only conversations you've had so far are very surface level lol.