No one tells you how lonely adulthood actually is

Everyone talks about how hard it is to budget or meal prep or find a job, but nobody warns you that after like 25, maintaining friendships starts to feel like a part-time job and if you don’t constantly chase people, they just disappear.

You go from seeing your friends every day in college or working retail together, to texting once every three weeks like, “we should catch up soon!” and then never doing it. People get married, move, have kids, start working 60-hour weeks, and suddenly you realize it’s been 6 months since you hung out with anyone outside your job.

Even worse? Everyone’s too tired or broke or depressed to do anything. I’ve had group chats where we all say “let’s plan something” and then ghost each other until next year. I’ve gone actual weeks without hearing my phone buzz unless it’s from DoorDash or a spam call.

And no, it’s not just “you’re not trying hard enough.” People are burnt out. Rent’s high, work sucks, no one has energy. And no, joining a book club or going to trivia night doesn’t magically fix the giant void where your social life used to be.

Adulthood is going to work, coming home, opening your phone, and realizing no one texted you. Again. And then doing it all over the next day. If you’re lucky, you’ve got one or two friends who are still down to FaceTime while folding laundry.

No one talks about it, but this is the norm. The “we all have our own lives” phase is way more brutal than people admit. It’s not your fault. It just sucks.