Please Like Me (But Keep Away)

by Mindy Kaling

But you can be famous and still be shy, a plain old introvert, or even a person with social anxiety.

But if I don’t know the people well or have control over the situation, I feel uncomfortable and tense.

Why is it that chatting with friends is energizing, but making small talk with acquaintances takes such monumental effort? And you know what’s even worse than engaging in small talk? Ending a conversation.

The problem was I didn’t want just anyone’s company. I wanted the company of funny, smart, like-minded people. That’s when I realized something about myself: I would rather be lonely than bored.

So my second realization was that I would rather be lonely than be friends with non-friends. Losing friends is hard, but losing fake friends, as it turns out, is pretty damn easy.

It was such a relief celebrating with people I love and love talking to, being 100 percent myself because I knew nobody was there to judge me for not getting my makeup professionally done, or for eating three slices of birthday cake.