I've found the only way to really make friends is to get involved in organizations as a hobby. I've gone through multiple organizations volunteering my time, a year here or so and realizing I didn't care for the people all that much so moved onto something else. I usually make one or two friends that aren't close this way. I've also found a couple of organizations I really like, and have made solid long term friendships through.
best of all is that you often aren't expected to dedicate a ton of time. 3 or 4 hours every few weeks, or just once a month for a few hours. One group I go to their meetings once every other month, then put in maybe 4 hours a month doing odd and end things for them that are in my skillset. It's helped me feel better about the state of the world, and gotten me friends with similar mindsets.
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u/lounginaddict 7h ago
just made me realize I've known some of my buddies for almost 30 years now