you are okay you know. there are people who like you very much. and as for the people who don't like you particularly... it is probably the case that you don't like them particularly either... i tend to find that there just are some people in the world who i have a hard time connecting with. i find that sometimes. sometimes it can be like there is a personality clash or something. but... it doesn't feel nice to think that there are some people who don't like us :-( i struggle a little with that too. but i console myself with the realisation that... we typically don't really have very much in common. and that is why... we don't really get on.

also... most people don't dislike us. just like how you don't dislike most people. i tend to find it is fairly rare that i simply don't seem to be able to get on with someone.

you have already apologised... okay. probably best to leave it then.

yeah. the connection takes time... it does. sometimes i find that i respond to maybe 5 or 6 or 7 threads and i might get back 1 or maybe 2 or possibly 3 responses. i think the thing is to really dwell on and appreciate what you do get. and to respond to people individually who respond to you. there are things you can do to foster getting positive responses from others.

it is something i think about a lot...

my dbt therapist used to help me notice causal regularities in inter-personal things. and i notice them quite a lot now.

i hear you when you say you need to vent. sometimes... i need to vent too. and i do vent. i vent a fair bit really. and venting is okay. but when the venting is fairly relentless then people do kind of tend to stop reading. because it can be fairly draining to read a lot of venting. but i think it is okay to vent. and if people find it too hard to read then it is their responsibility to notice that they are finding it hard and to stop reading if that would be better for them.

i'm not saying to stop venting... vent if it helps :-)
i think that is part of how the boards help.
because sometimes it helps to get things out there.

but venting is one thing...
and meaningful connections with others can be another...

and the latter tends to come from responding to others. and fostering responses. it can be really very hard at times. but... i think it is something that helps... longer term. regarding advice... we can only offer. sometimes it will resonate and sometimes it won't. mostly... what people seem to want is a little validation rather than specific advice anyways. and you can do that :-)

though it can be really very hard sometimes. i appreciate that.