I stopped making plans to invite people to when I was 15 and nobody showed up to my birthday party. Haven't celebrated a birthday since.

I know it hurts, and it sucks that you're just now learning this, but you have a family. I assume that means a spouse and kids. Be grateful for them, because not everybody has that.

And modern dating is so shit that anyone who doesn't already have it is not likely to find it, unless they live in an insular community like a tight-knit diaspora where everyone knows everyone's uncle, and aunts perform the role of matchmaker. So cherish your family, they are your most precious treasure.

I know loneliness and isolation hurts, and feelings of rejection and abandonment can be very complex and confusing, but if I can learn to be at peace with just me and my cat, then I'm sure you can be at peace with just you and your family.

Give them the happiest home in the world. Do barbecues just for them. Take road trips just for them. When you make improvements to the house or the garden, do it just for them.

Who cares what a dozen acquaintances or a thousand strangers really think? People are shallow and egocentric. Half of them would only stay long enough to take a few photos of your art deco and post it on the gram, then they'd be gone and onto the next place to wring out more content. The other half would be judging you, either because your stuff is too nice and they hate that or because your stuff isn't nice enough and they hate that. Why invite chaos into your home?

Maybe you'll make a close friend or two and be able to host a more intimate get-together in the future, but that's hard to do once you get into the range of 10+ invitees. If you ask me, you dodged a bullet when nobody showed up.