I agree with Henry - meeting new people is a great way to be a more interesting person and to also be more interested in life. I don't seem to have a problem with this. I love to have conversations with total strangers. In fact, I am constantly approached by strangers who ask me for directions and for my opinions. Many even to confide in me about their families, boyfriends or childhood memories
What I have a problem with is getting to know people I see consistently on a daily or weekly basis. It's hard for me to get past that barrier between random interaction and familiar friend. I relate comfortably with strangers or with people I've known since childhood, but not people I am in close contact with at work or community functions, even though we've known each other for years. I've attributed this to living in a small community with a rigid set of cliques (just like in high school!
) where you have to show a certain willingness to conform (not my strong point) to be accepted, but maybe I just have no skills in this area.
Any advice in this area would be much appreciated.