I keep going to join local furry telegram groups to make friends in much the way I did back in TX, and the thoughts that keep coming up (and are backed by enough gut-twisting emotion to stop me) are just getting silly.

Highlights include:

• This will probably be a group that is hostile to trans people. (highly unlikely)
• I will immediately say something that I'm not aware is now considered offensive. (also unlikely)
• They will think I'm too old and not want to have much to do with me. (people my age or older probably run these groups!)

Or (and this one is my personal favorite for how absurd it is):

• I moved here in 2020, it's 2023, I'm just now reaching out to the local community, and people are going to be suspicious of and offput by my "friendship history gap" and not want to "risk it" befriending me.

Like, brain, I get that you are anxious about the work history gap but this is just dumb as hell. LET ME HAVE A SOCIAL LIFE AGAIN DAMMNIT