It's unfortunately become a self-fulfilling prophecy that "it's harder to make friends as you get older." My personal take on this is that it's not any harder. But building community and building bonds takes time, and it takes caring enough to keep going even if there's aspects that are uncomfortable or if it gets hard. That's how we made friends as kids. We were shoved in the same classroom with the same kids every day and we had to survive. My roommate from undergrad is still my best friend, and again that's because we were stuck in one room and we had to make it work. Adults, especially adults with privilege, aren't stuck-- we can exit. But exiting doesn't lead to real community and real support networks. Adults can't have community if they can't overcome the discomfort and inconvenience that also come with community.
Loved learning about Build IRL!
It's unfortunately become a self-fulfilling prophecy that "it's harder to make friends as you get older." My personal take on this is that it's not any harder. But building community and building bonds takes time, and it takes caring enough to keep going even if there's aspects that are uncomfortable or if it gets hard. That's how we made friends as kids. We were shoved in the same classroom with the same kids every day and we had to survive. My roommate from undergrad is still my best friend, and again that's because we were stuck in one room and we had to make it work. Adults, especially adults with privilege, aren't stuck-- we can exit. But exiting doesn't lead to real community and real support networks. Adults can't have community if they can't overcome the discomfort and inconvenience that also come with community.