As a shut in with social anxiety and very introverted I’m wondering how to find friends now that I got better. Basically starting from zero since I know nobody in my city so I’m wondering if someone has some experience with finding friends as lonely anxious introvert and just how other people find friends.
Bars, volunteering, church, board game shops, dating sites, neighbors. Anecdotally I got a dog and now I know everyone in my neighborhood due to walking him twice a day, but I wouldn’t go as far as recommending a dog for that purpose.
I second dog. Also just walking to and from a local shop is better (for social opportunities) than driving or biking.
I would also add gardening. I’ve got a front yard and I met more people in one summer digging it up than I had in the previous five years. If you don’t have a front yard to dig in, a community garden would also work, or maybe even some guerrilla gardening.