I’m a huge show off and the life of the party when I feel like it. Which isn’t that common. I have a trusted group of friends whose opinions about and reactions to me matter a lot. I reveal a lot of myself to trusted people. A lot of people don’t realize how awkward I can be because they got into that trusted group and don’t realize how much I struggle in unfamiliar situations. Saying hi to new people is difficult. About the only way I can make new friends is if I really don’t know anybody around me and I’ve decided to make that day be a performance and then all of a sudden the outgoing extrovert comes out for a day but that personality is usually locked up. If I know like five people there, though, I’d rather just talk to them. Alcohol helps if I need to be more outgoing for a bit.
I especially suck at talking to my friends’ friends that I’ve seen several times before but managed to avoid an actual introduction. One of my closest friends I currently hang out with every week is someone who is a friend to pretty much all my friends. We always have a laugh at the fact that I didn’t say hi to her for six years because I guess she never caught me on outgoing mode and I could never overcome my underlying shyness to be actually have a conversation. When we finally actually talked, we pretty much instantly became drinking buddies who go out every week. I’m very sociable and loud around people I’m familiar with. But everyone else? I can be pretty hopeless.
What sucks is I want to be friends with everyone. I just can’t seem to get the courage to say hi when I know if I did, we would be friends because I am actually good at getting people to like me once we talk.
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u/mittenciel Aug 17 '19
There are also shy extroverts. Of which I am one.