It's embarrassing now to think about, but for instance, me not understanding physical boundaries and sitting too close to other people without realising it. Also being kind of too "familiar" with people I didn't know well, trying to joke and act like I'm connected with them like way too soon after meeting them. Also conversational topics. I struggled with depression and I was way too open about depression and suicidal thoughts randomly with people at super inappropriate times. My friend didn't mean I could never talk to anybody about feeling depressed or even suicidal. But I was bringing it up way too casually and randomly and missing the cues that it was making people feel uncomfortable. There's a time and place for everything and basically I needed to work on better understanding that.

It was only from that conversation that I realised that oversharing is a thing (even though she didn't say that specific word) and I've been working on it ever since. I appreciate my friend's candor soooo much. She even (kindly) explained why she was a bit put off by me at first (in a way we could laugh together about it), but also explained how she came to understand and value me once she got to know me better. She was explaining it in terms of "when you say X, how people may tend to intepret it is Y, leading them to view you as Z". So she wasn't saying I should change who I am at core, but just be more mindful of how my words and actions might come across so I didn't scare off potential friends who could be missing out on getting to know me.

I can't put into words how much I appreciate her being brave enough to tell me these things, but also the respectful manner in which she did it. It was said in private, she didn't rant or yell or anything, she just genuinely wanted to help me have an easier time of things socially. It helped me actually make a few friends at our school and to be honest, I'm still benefiting now over 20 years later from her taking the time to break things down for me.