How do you navigate loneliness when striving to break free from societal norms?

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Yes! Absolutely yes! But, those people do exist. They're just a bit harder to find. This might help

https://slingshotcollective.org/radical-contact-list/

Eventually you can build a massive bubble if you find the right places to be. That includes your job, your friends, your acquaintances, your grocery store and more. When I interact with full on normies it is so deeply jarring, because I do it so rarely.

But honestly you can still get lonely in that situation because you found your people and you still can't connect. So I'd say it's most important to be able to address loneliness in the self. Become someone you want to hang out with. Do interesting things and pay attention to non human things for a bit, like birds or interesting plants on walks, or volunteer with a community garden. Go full DIY, start biking, get a dog. If you're single and not tied down you could go woofing for a bit, travel the world for free. Volunteer at hostiles and go solo backpacking until you either fall in love with yourself or some random person or two or three. Dang but also remind yourself that it's ok and normal to be lonely. You can give yourself that space, but you will always be lonely if you cannot love to be around yourself.

Wow my edible kicked in while I was writing that and it's either insane or helpful, but my sentiment is, I hope you never feel lonely for too long. Reach out anytime. Love ya, friend.

I'm still trying to figure that out because I have this issue too.

That's the neat part: you don't.

I had to explain to someone that I cut ties with a friend after they became a neo-nazi and they responded with, and I quote "You know, you just need to be more forgiving of people" which prompted me to remind them "they became a Nazi" - "Well, you know..."

what you are saying is very abstract, like what societal norm are you getting rid of? do you want to run around naked or something

Have you considered moving somewhere that's better aligned with your values? It's not something to undertake lightly, but I know that moving helped me a lot. Totally different situation for me though.

For me it was basically just moving somewhere bigger, even if I didn't get much better at making connections just knowing it was possible made a difference.

Good luck to you.

Get a job where you have to deal with people all day. Then by the end of the day you'll hate them and just want to go home and be by yourself.

The most important thing is finding solace from within imo. I think there will always be times when we must carry ourselves, so it is good to be comfortable doing so. Many friendships break because shared burdens become too much on top of personal burdens. Relying on each other is a good thing, but being able to support yourself when needed will make rare friendships last longer.

It always helps tremendously to put in an intentional effort for networking - through social clubs, internet boards, community events, etc. Of course, this gets harder the further you are from "normal." Moving to a different region can potentially act as a multiplier, depending on where you are coming from and where you are going.

There are always groups of oddballs out there. These are the outsiders of society. They tend not to look for others, but to also be welcoming of anyone who will welcome them. They pop up among restaurant industry workers, performers, DnD nerds, clubbers and ravers, goths and satanists, crusties, and probably many other groups. They can be a bit prickly to strangers, but if you're looking to not be judged for being yourself, then they can be the best of friends. So you might consider trying to network with these types of groups in particular, if you can find one with a shared interest.

You could also take a different path and commit yourself to a passion project, local or remote. Like building a community garden, or programming something. The people you meet will help, but the passion itself can also help to relieve the feeling of loneliness.

So the question is where to find chaotic/ anarchist people like yourself who don't follow the rulez. I'd like to know, too. The answer is probably to get to know A LOT more people so you higher your chances to find someone compatible.

You have more in common with normies than you think. Focus on that and ignore the rest. Example. A few years ago I lived walking distance away from a barber shop and a salon. The barber shop was always packed and the salon was always empty. I started going to the salon to save the wait. I found out why it was always empty. The owner was a massive Trump supporter and would rant about politics all the time. But it was always empty so I kept going there. Over time I realized how easy it was to have a conversation with her if I picked the right topics. Insurance, cable companies, the price of gas. Basically, all of the ways we're getting fucked.

Regular people have opinions about the things we talk about (privacy, consumerism, AI etc.). So, it's really easy to strike up a conversation. Try it the next time you are waiting in the self checkout line. "You wouldn't believe how many times that thing has accused me of stealing..." "IDK about you, but whenever I have to select produce, I pick the cheap one." "Did you know they use the security footage to make computers smarter?" "I heard xyz thing about smart cars." "They terk er jerbs!"

Don't lean into it too hard or be too technical. Set something up and let them do most of the talking. Then ask another question. Listen even if they are wrong. Use your expertise to guide them to what they already know, but don't actively think about. Everyone knows google spies on us or social media is harmful. Get them to think about how and why.

Getting as deep in the weeds as we are is definitely isolating, but when you approach things this way, you find you have more similarities with the average person than differences.

When you’re falling into a black hole, you set all your thrusters to maximum.

There’s no trick. You’ve either fallen too far to still be able to climb, or not. There’s no way to know whether you’ve slipped too far, other than to climb as hard as you possibly can, and that’s also the optimal strategy for escaping.

There’s no trick. You have to push as hard as you can, as soon as you can. Each moment you wait makes the task harder.

Which norms and why?

Breaking free from societal norms because they are norms will not get you anywhere.

Wearing a shirt that says Fuck you and being a glum dick about everything wont win you friends or convert anyone to your cause.

Being approachable and listening to others in order to connect with them as a human... Then when they ask if you want to hail satan as is the norm and you say no, my friend, for I only praise the Sun. They may be more inclined to see some sun followers as not total assholes as they pray to our dark lord

Itf youre in a situation for it, it can be fun to move to a placewhenre others choose a different societal norm more in line with your own ideals. Like Florida, where some child labor laws were repealed... Take that societal norm

I'll give my humble opinion here, I'm not a professional of course.

DISCLAIMER: This is just an opinion, from an anonymous random person from the internet. I'm not a professional, and I don't know you. However, if you can't handle it yourself, I do suggest to try to do it with a professional.

What you feel is not loneliness, but the real feel of freedom. You tag it as loneliness because you have never felt it before, and (I guess) nobody around you can acknowledge that because they are attached to social norms, meaning they are not necessarily free as they want to.

Breaking from social norms create a sudden big space in your life, where one can call it freedom, and one can call it loneliness.

It's up to you what you feel this space with, and how you look at it. And it's only you who can acknowledge it, nobody else.

Generally I wouldn't recommend breaking entirely, but to balance it in a healthy manner, e.g set the limits that you (and only you) genuinely feel good with.

In my case, I quit using Facebook and Instagram in the past years, and naturally, things that are genuinely fit me started to sink in and fill it.

In the context of connecting to others, when you live your live genuinely, the people that will fit it the most, will come to your life naturally.

It's tricky to do it today because we have a lot of channels that manipulate our social norms (e.g. social media, people around us, tv, e.g.).

Enjoy your freedom and genuineness mate.