[my_scatterheart]

Meh, I dunno. I was and kinda am the same way. For the most part I'm a loner but I do pretty well around anyone I come in contact with. I can talk to anyone about anything. More a survival method than anything.
I smile a lot to strangers and can converse about silly ordinary things. It's brought me a lot of goodness.
I'd encourage you to throw yourself into it. Walk down the street. Smile at strangers. Say it's a beautiful day. Be enthusiastic. Be your most charming self. There's a confidence that is born of it. You get a hang of that and you start to realize that any un/conscious nerves about people is silly. Most people are in your boat. I learned to love the bus. Conversation ranging from the weather to someone's late husband. Their heartbreak and pain. Victories and losses. Many many people in any given town.
No use forcing or longing for connections that don't exist. Friends are transient. There's also no use mourning this kind of passing. People grow and change.
Do things that you love with others and you're bound to find someone else to spend time with. And when it fails, as it will at times, go into the world and find someone to talk to. There are elderly people all over cities sitting by themselves. They all have great stories. You rid the loneliness of two people. Do this to shake your lonelies until you make friends somewhere in your endeavors.