It's one thing to not go to an event you definitely know you won't enjoy, that's respectable. But when you're on the fence and maybe it would be easier to just not go, you should just go. You will be glad you did. This is how we make memories, and stories, and build community. I realized today I haven't hugged anyone in a while but I hugged a coworker after a work hangout, I had been planning to ditch, and I'm feeling very fragile about it now, in a good way.