I think this holds true for quite a few professional work situations…?

In my former life as an architect I was part of a team that delivered objectives together, celebrated successes together, bemoaned failures together and socialised together…

Some members moved to new companies, some arrived to join us and the team you had at that time was your world.

But now that I’m self-employed, I find myself missing the automatic circle of friends / family that was my work-team. I’ve lost touch with pretty much everyone as we no longer share the same space or challenges and those connections are therefore so much harder to maintain. I feel isolated, even if “free”.

I guess, what I’m saying is that you’d be surprised just how many people feel what you’re describing!