I've lived a close-to-homestead life for over two decades. It came naturally as the work I wanted to do required me to live in a very rural area. I farmed as a

I've lived a close-to-homestead life for over two decades. It came naturally as the work I wanted to do required me to live in a very rural area. I farmed as a kid, on a production row-crop farm, but this is wildly different. The main thing people on the internet leave off is that you have to a) be okay with isolation/alone time, and b) you will work every day of your life. We set out to make a plot that is as self-sufficient as possible (internet, water, and about 1/4 of our electricity come from the grid still, all other inputs are from our land). It took most of the two decades to get to a point where we can breathe. That doesn't mean 'not work' that means that we aren't doing backbreaking labor as much anymore. It's the call of the pastoral. People have such rose-tinted glasses about the past and how people lived then. It was hard, dirty, and short. If you don't find pleasure in the work itself, for the sake of itself, maybe consider a change. That doesn't make you a failure, it makes you practical. Learning is part of it. I learned that I like working with my hands more than I like working in an office. I also learned that it doesn't pay the bills. If you're different, you're different. So what? That being said, if it's just the social aspect, find people around you to do things with. We share labor with our neighbors. It's nice because it provides much needed help with the work, and it provides a social aspect. But one thing that holds true, is that, if you are in a really rural area, people tend toward being alone. That's why they live there.