I really struggle with communicating with others in a work environment, and I don't know how to make small talk so I can appear 'normal' and not stand out as super quiet. I know that I'll be working with other people for the rest of my life in my chosen career path, and I find it impossible to make friends (my only friend was someone I met on a film forum ten years ago) so essentially, how do I navigate this? I hate drawing negative attention to myself but I feel I do that by being so quiet whenever I'm at work, even though I usually have nothing to contribute. It's often presumed something's wrong with me because I remain silent, but I feel absolutely fine most of the time and I'll be polite/reply when spoken to. I only really connect with someone if they have the same level of social ineptitude or have the same very specific and intense interests as me. Please, help a gal out. Thanks.
i think you're doing great