How can I make new friends?
Hey everyone,
I know this will probably sound stupid to some of you, but I don't know how to go about making new friends. Any advice at all is greatly appreciated.
Short Version
Apart from my girlfriend and two roommates (one of which I don't like), I don't hangout with anyone else and I'm not close to anyone but my girlfriend. I'm a 24 year old guy, college graduate working some part time jobs. I'm shy and introverted so I don't easily open up to people. I got burned a bit by my last group of friends and stopped talking with them a while back. I don't have any hobbies or passions and I don't know where I can go or what I can do to meet new people and form new friendships. Also don't know if I should try to rekindle the old friendships.
Long Version
I've been doing a little soul-searching the last couple days and I think a large part of why I've been so down recently is because I don't actually have any friends anymore. I'm a 24 year old guy with a college degree but I'm working some part time jobs until I find an engineering position. I've always been introverted and shy and because of that it's difficult for me to open up with people. I've also always been pretty bad about keeping up with people if I don't see them in person. When I have had groups of friends, I usually was a bit of an outsider even within the group. (I got fed up with my last group of friends and ended up not talking with them anymore after they put together a birthday dinner for me and then the people in the group that I actually knew well sat away from me, one even moved from the seat next to me to the other end to be with the others.)
I have a girlfriend that I've been with for a few years and then I have two roommates: one that I don't like because he's a tool and another who I've known for a long time and is essentially like an older sister. Apart from these three people, the only other people that I see and talk with are my coworkers. Unfortunately, at both jobs I'm a bit isolated from the rest of my coworkers. One job is at a cafe and I'm up front at the registers, so I can't leave for long and hang out in the back with the rest of the crew. The other job in in retail stocking shelves and I am responsible for an area where I am normally the only one stocking it, so I'm not with the rest of my team most of the time. On top of that, the first job is mostly teenagers and the people in the second job that I normally do see are all older than me (anywhere from about 30-50 years old).
I'm not sure what I can do to start meeting new people. I don't really have any hobbies or things I'm passionate about, so I can't just look for groups or meet-ups related to those, so I'm kind of at a loss of where to go or what to do to meet people. I've also thought about the possibility of trying to rekindle some old friendships, but I don't know if I should considering why I stopped talking to them in the first place.
Sorry this got so long, but thanks to those that read through and can give some advice!
