Excellent Reads

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Are you tired of clickbait and the current state of journalism? This community is meant to remind you that excellent journalism still happens. While not sticking to a specific topic, the focus will be on high-quality articles and discussion around their topics.

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Learning to Connect With Friends — Without Alcohol (www.nytimes.com)

submitted 1 week ago by [email protected] to c/longreads

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By the time the entrees came, we’d reached the end of these “so what else is new” updates. I recognized that we were at a threshold — one I had been unable to cross so far without booze.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago

I've run into similar issues because frankly, the lockdowns of 2020-2023 also shut down my socialization almost completely. I don't share verbally, but only in pseudonymous settings like social media. In real life, I'm either task-focused (up until last month I was going to board games once a week - I've since shut down), taciturn and focused inward, or drunk. I don't share inner thoughts or opinions. I don't care much about what others around me say. The biggest problem for me of sober socializing is mostly that I don't have anyone I'd particularly like to be with, when I'm sober.

Now that I'm in that spiral, I don't see a way back.