'If I haven't experienced pain, despair, and loss; then what good does it do me to only know love? Especially, if the world is more lost than whole?'
In a sea of strangers we can connect with people who can tell the difference what makes them happy or what makes up their pain. Then, we can connect with others who are lost, and let's be honest... we are all lost. Deep down inside we know what either makes us our break us, but then it gets to a certain point where we have to differentiate what makes us content and what makes us genuinely happy. When talking to others it's easy to tell whether you can connect with a person by likes and dislikes. Instead of having the 21st century eHarmony, going back to the stone of talking in person can make a connection more intimate.
Amongst strangers, some people may feel inferior and others may feel completely at home. The good thing about strangers is that they know nothing about you and you can leave out what they shouldn't know. The majority of the time people will automatically feel attracted into knowing who you are. It's only humane to build ones circle, unless social awkwardness is unavoidable like pigeon shit. So how does one feel, it is entirely up to the person, unless if the person does not even know him/herself to connect with others.