Brett Cooper

Emma writes, I'm in my 20s and I'm here to tell you, loneliness isn't an epidemic, it is a choice.

My generation has decided that avoiding embarrassment or rejection is more important than developing a thriving social circle.

The main social obstacle facing Gen Zers isn't social media or overstimulation, it is their own trepidation.

In this article, she goes on to share that through her own sheer will to build community and create this great group of friends, she has had to herself fight through discomfort and vulnerability and the stigma over being too eager and too excited.

She writes, it was not destined to be this way.

I didn't have a big and active social circle until well into college.

I had to learn how to party well through trial and error.

And more important than my ability to shake a cocktail or set a dinner table was my development of a thick social skin.

I've stopped caring about whether I come off as too eager or too much when seeking new friendships.

Nor do I trouble myself much with the invites I send out that go ignored.

Teenage Emma would hardly recognize this adult version of herself.

She then goes on and says that making friends entails social risk.

I probably annoyed some prospective guests by peppering them with invitations.

Others might have found my eagerness to swap numbers off-putting.

Oh well.

I can't find another 100 people to invite to my house without a little embarrassment.

The way out of this supposed epidemic is for young people to show a modicum of social bravery.

A life spent trying to be cool and unrejectable is inevitably going to be a small and lonely one.

We cannot let fear of rejection overwhelm us.

A life full of friendship and great parties is waiting for you.