should i let my friends know how i feel, or just go with the flow?

hi all... i don't like the way i feel right now. i'm upset and i'm hiding it. but the way i feel is nothing new. it happens every year, for the past 5 years or so... i'm alone, a lot. too much. i've always held my true friends in high regard (as close as family), but it's been a long time since that feeling has been reciprocated.

i've tried a little experiment for the past 3 months, it goes like this... i've basically dropped off the face of the earth, no phone calls, no visits, no nothing. i behaved this way in order to see who would contact me. out of the 10 true friends i've got, only 3 have taken the time to call me (i realize 10 is a huge number of friends, considering lots of people are fortunate enough to have just 1). so the 3 that have continued on with me, i continue on with them. we hang out, call, talk, visit... all the things friends do. the other 7, nothing.

i've become a mirror. whatever my friends do, i'll do too. they call, i'll call. they visit, i'll visit. they invite me to do things, i'll invite them to do things. when i started this "experiment", there had already been an empty feeling i was experiencing. i noticed that in the past, i've had to be the one to contact my friends first, pretty much across the board. so, i've wanted to see what would happen if i wasn't the one to take charge. i don't like what i see. so this is my new reality?

one friend in particular (one of the 7) always says "you're like a brother, i wish you came around more." well, i would come around more, if i was invited, or felt wanted. i'm tired of having to initiate contact, and practically invite myself to a lot of things our group does together. and in this time, i've learned that many of my friends still interact with one another, take trips together and socialize regularly... just not with me.

i'm 32, have a spectrum of friends from the ages of early 20's up to about early 60's. less than half are married, or have children. some have businesses they run, and all but 2 are employed full-time. so i get that they have things going on. i do too. but that's never stopped me from wanting to get together... until now.

do you think i should bring this up to them? i'm kind of hurt right now emotionally and so part of me wants to just "break up" with them. throw away these things that mean so much to me, and have taken in most cases, 10 to 20 years to build. i'm only saying that last sentence, because i'm hurt right now, that's not what i really want. but, is this my new reality that i have not accepted yet (i'm not good with change, the way i would like to be) and i'm just fighting a losing battle?

i know that was long, just had to get it off my chest. please, all thoughts and opinions are welcome. thank you for taking the time to read