Check out these fun things to do by yourself.
If you have no or few close friends, what can you do to gain that social connection you crave?
Below are some social activities you can check out solo, so you can get some much-needed interaction.
1. Museum And Gallery Openings
Are you a fan of art, culture, and history? Museums and art galleries have opening parties for their special exhibits on a nearly weekly basis. These are great opportunities to chat with other people in a low-stress environment: you know that they’re there because they also like art (or whatever era of historical bits are on display), and as such, there’s no pressure to talk about yourself immediately. You can discuss what’s being shown, and will most likely keep running into the same people at future events.
2. Ghost Walks (or Hunting…)
If you have a predilection for all things supernatural, look into ghost walks or other tours taking place in your area! Just about every city on the planet has a few haunted buildings to check out, and if you’re interested in diving into spooky situations, you can rest assured that others nearby are as well.
3. Community Groups
Many communities have regular get-togethers where you can hang out with your neighbors and take part in things that affect your own area. These could be community garden projects, charity events, sports tournaments, and swap meets.
4. Classes
Cooking classes can help you meet people with similar culinary interests, while creative classes will help you hone your own skills while interacting with those who may share your leanings. Many of these groups are also intergenerational, so you can interact with people of all different ages and backgrounds.
If you’re looking for more interpersonal social interaction, taking a language class is a great option, as you’ll have to practice your reading and speaking skills with a partner.
5. Volunteer Work
Those who haven’t taken part in volunteer work will be pleasantly surprised by how fulfilling it can be on countless levels. By taking part in volunteer opportunities, you’ll not only be doing good in your community, you’ll meet people with similar values while making a real difference in the world.
There are countless volunteer opportunities everywhere you go, so you can be sure to find one that suits you best.
6. Online Gaming
This might seem like the antithesis of what many people consider to be a social activity, but believe it or not, playing an MMORPG (that’s a massively multiplayer online role-playing game to you and me) can be a great social activity. In games such as World of Warcraft or Guild Wars, you can team up with others, join factions, and even talk strategy over a headset if you feel like interacting verbally.
What’s more, there are now gaming cafes in many towns and cities where you can go to play online games in the company of others doing the same thing.
7. Meetup Groups
If you’re in a town with more than a hundred people in it, it’s likely that there will be some Meetup groups nearby. By checking out some of them, you can find others with whom you can discuss alien conspiracies, knitting techniques, imported cheeses, anime cosplaying… anything.
Are you ready to be social and make friends?
The key to getting involved in social activities is to look into those that actually suit your sincere interests, instead of trying to inject yourself into one that you feel you should look into because they seem cool. After all, the close friendships we develop tend to be with those who share our interests, values, senses of humor, and the like.
Real connection happens when we’re sincere, and that kind of sincerity only occurs when we can drop our ego walls and be authentic about what we love. If what you love happens to be Doctor Who-themed knitting projects and fusion Thai-Hungarian cuisine, you rock those passions! There WILL be others who share such loves, and those… those are your people.
Go have fun.
