Searching for community

What made you decide to join a community rather than explore on your own?

trying out a prompt because why not!

If I'm being honest, loneliness. As a honeybee, I'm used to being absolutely surrounded by those who are similar to me, but I've never quite functioned well around my folks compared to my peers, who seemed to find it effortless. Could be the autism or the therianthropy, or both, but I feel more connected to others with nonhuman identities, even if it is online. something about the sheer numbers of other users on the internet makes me feel safer. though, my ultimate goal is to find a hive on my own that can meet in person and that I can feel closer to, and online community is a good catalyst for that as well