I genuinely don’t understand why society treats social interaction like it’s one of the most important things in life.
If someone spends a weekend alone, people assume they’re lonely. If someone has no interest in constant messaging, group chats, or hanging out every week, people think something must be wrong.
Meanwhile, a lot of social interaction seems repetitive. The same conversations, the same small talk, the same routines repeated over and over.
People talk about socialising as if it’s automatically meaningful, but for many interactions the main purpose seems to be avoiding boredom or avoiding being alone.
If somebody has no friends it’s often treated like a tragic disaster, but what if that’s actually what they prefer?
Maybe I’m missing something, but I don’t see why being comfortable alone is viewed as strange while constantly needing people around is viewed as normal.
Neither is actually viewed as healthy. Social parasites are sometimes harder to spot.
For your case it’s the transition that’s tricky: Friends assume you want to keep being friends and may worry if that changes. After a while they’ll give up, assuming you’ve moved on. If you’re sure that’s your path then just stay the course, but know that it’s harder to come back from if you do get lonely. It’s harder to make and keep friends later in life. It’s harder to find a spouse if you’re alone all the time. Interestingly, a spouse + kids may solve your social obligation/boredom problem.
For my case, wife and kids made keeping friends AND a job impossible. Married men are expected to be present at all times for family now except for when at work. Anything regular outside of work is considered neglectful of either your children or your marriage. No hobbies except those that can be done at home after kids go to bed. No social commitments not involving spouse and/or kids. Fatherhood standards are pretty high these days. I don’t have any “friends” anymore, but because I have a family no one asks about it anymore either.
This is a bit tedious imho. I am a Father of two. My wife and me are both part time workers, we share caretaking and household together. We managed to organise a free evening (~6 -10) per week for each of us. There are grandparents and friends that have kids too who make it possible.