I’m no longer college-aged (33 now), more introverted with anxiety, and my social circle is meh. Most of my friends I barely have anything in common with, and they really go to bars, which isn’t my scene. Bc of my own interests and bc I'm pretty weird and alt myself, women who are nerdy, artsy, witchy, alternative, goth, quirky, and creative are the kinds of women I’m trying to meet. But tbh I’d also just love to make more friends in those circles, too, so it's not that I'm strictly trying to date, but that meeting people in general has been tough. So no, I'm not trying to find an "aLt BaDdIe" or attempting to fetishize a specific group of women. I'm weird af myself and have weird interests and just want to find like-minded people. That's all.
No matter what I do, I can’t meet women. I’ve put a lot of effort into improving myself. I run and work out a few times a week, I have grooming and skincare routines, I have a legit interest in fashion, so I dress well, and I’m 6'3. I mention this bc if I don't everyone will just ask "well, do you groom and are you in shape" so there you go.
The issue is, I don’t really know where to meet those sorts of people. I see profiles like that on dating apps, but apps haven’t worked for me at all despite years of trying. I literally cannot get a single like despite troubleshooting them for years. In person, I’m into things like paganism, the occult, darkwave music, museums, hiking, art shows, poetry, metal concerts, artys/naturey festivals, weird conventions, macabre poetry, film, and fashion, etc. Venues, events, and spaces where I’d imagine I could meet like-minded people, but in my experience, it never happens. I’ve even tried volunteering at an art gallery and using Meetup, but meet up here groups here are severely lacking, and neither has led to much of anything...
Another issue is that I can't meet a woman I’m attracted to bc I tend to overthink everything and freeze, so I don't approach them in the first place. I care a lot about being respectful and not making someone uncomfortable, so probably platonic to a fault, but it doesn’t really matter bc there are no women around, anyway.
At this point, I’m wondering: where do people like this actually meet each other? Is there something I’m missing? Is it just over?
