Pre-pandemic, I had a fairly active social life, and I want to get it back (life changes happened, too, where my wife and I used to play soccer and other sports

Pre-pandemic, I had a fairly active social life, and I want to get it back (life changes happened, too, where my wife and I used to play soccer and other sports, and had social outlets there, but we hit an age where that became too tough on us) - so I agree with what you are saying. The thing is, there are different types of people you end up socializing with. Outside of work, it tends to be more people like us, with the same interests, same kind of humor, etc. At work, I get to socialize with people that I don't normally get to socialize with - especially with remote work. On my team now are people from different religions, nationalities, backgrounds, etc. People I never would meet usually, or at best, rarely. They think differently than me, and that's really cool and interesting. But on the weekend I play RPGs with my ancient group of friends and we have a huge history and common interest and that's a lot of fun too.