I’m (36m) an entrepreneur, so since late 2018, I’ve been working really hard on getting my startup off the ground. I worked from home the entire time prior to the pandemic, and I lived by myself.
I worked sometimes hundreds of hours per week for the first 2 years — and my friends and family saw less and less of me. Then the pandemic hit. My friend (35 f) says she’s seriously concerned about how isolated I am from society.
Now I’ve been socially isolated for almost 4 years. I have a solid personality. Never really struggled to make friends at any age, but definitely, my current friends are further away than ever from a connection standpoint.
Here’s my question though, while my situation seems a bit unique naturally — I feel like I’m not the only one struggling to make connections. We just finished a global pandemic — is my friend being fair in saying I’m isolating too much? Aren’t a lot of people trying to find their groove post-pandemic to return to “normal”?
***TL;DR*** Friend says she’s been concerned about my social isolation for the past few years, but I feel the pandemic caused this on many people. Is she right? Or am I not realizing I’m really struggling more than the average person and should be concerned.
3 comments
You might not be struggling. But it’s still something to keep an eye on. You like these people. It’s interesting to know what’s going on in their lives. After the pandemic it might take some extra effort, but it’s important to keep them on your radar. So while you might not have to see them weekly, make an effort to see them. Because they might be struggling.
You’ve been away from friends and family for 4 years? Uhh yeah, that’s a bit much OP.
I would say it sounds a bit unusual. I didn’t see friends much, but I still maintained some contact. We did phone calls, Zoom hangouts, exchanged texts when we could. Contact was less for sure but it still existed. If you’ve basically just been working and largely ignoring your friends then you probably should do some things to re-establish contact.
Do something easy. Send a text or two. Call a friend. Arrange a hangout.