To say I have no friends?

[Doingdoingdont]

I have work colleagues, acquaintances and family but no real friends. I have just ended my marriage and realised that I have no one in real life to confide in, vent to, or ask for support. I have a close family but they have enough to be getting on with ( ivf, cancer, dementia and more) and don't want to burden them with my woes. I have had friends that I used to socialise with but never a large close friendship group that some people seem to be part of. I can see my life in front of me as a long lonely one. I have never been part of the "school mums" , I always feel a bit awkward and that I don't quite fit anywhere.

I don't have any close friends either. I'm an introvert and love being on my own reading, daydreaming, wandering in the countryside, etc. I don't dislike people. Some of them are wonderful. But I don't crave company either.

That said, I would like one or two close friends. I mean good, kind, interesting people whose company I enjoy. It's hard though. I often wonder if it's harder to make friends in 2022 than it was in, say, 1970, or 1920. I think it probably is. The main reason is that people today have so much else to entertain them, from DVD boxsets to podcasts to video games. That's part of the reason the local pub is disappearing. We also work harder. Yes people worked hard in the past, but the work was usually simple, and it ended when it ended. Now, people seem to work all the time and never switch off. That leaves them too tired for making new friends. Plus, the UK is so noisy and stressful and crowded that no one wants to go anywhere at the weekend. They've had enough of cars and noise. And I don't blame them. The last thing I want to do on a Friday night is go into town.