I’ve got lots of acquaintances, like people I’ve known and get along with for ages, but not many friendships, as in people who I feel like I can talk to whenever and catch up with out of the blue.
How do you bridge that gap for people who feel like friends but it still feels awkward to invite them somewhere to catch up?
8 comments
You have to take the initiative and invite them to places outside of work.
Shared difficulties.
Mutual respect and understanding
All you can do is engage with them, reach out, be there for them, and let them know you care.
Ultimately if they are true friends… they will reciprocate and it’ll feel mutual.
Try to engage with after work, find common interest, talk with people regularly about stuff that doesn’t have to do with work, humor goes a long way, even a decent joke can help people open up. Keep in mind mind its always going to be atleast a little awkward, and sometimes you and someone else just don’t vibe and it that it ain’t on you.
For me it happens automatically with some people. Well most of my best friends i met while playing online video games. Nowadays i don’t really get any new connections, maybe because i switched to mostly playing mobile games (or when i’m home i play the same games on bluestacks since after their vulkan update even games that didn’t run well before work perfectly).
I know i have at least 5 people that i can message any time and tell them any random stuff or something that bothers me and they’ll be happy to talk and to support me.
I find that the only way to do it is spending more time together
Make an effort.
Genuinely give a shit.