4 ms·

> The reason you were not feeling connected wasn't that you were freelancing. It was because you presumably didn't do anything else that gave you the opportunit

> The reason you were not feeling connected wasn't that you were freelancing. It was because you presumably didn't do anything else that gave you the opportunity of connecting with people. If you were freelancing and met like minded people in your free time doing things you like, you would have felt as much connected, if not more, as you feel now in your full time job. And would probably have had more free time. But that's where you're wrong. I went to meetups regularly, participated in events like Rails Rumble, worked at co-location spaces, etc. I got plenty of human interaction but it simply wasn't the same as what I get now at my full time job. I liken it to home schooled kids. Sure, they can setup play dates and events with other home schooled kids or participate in out-of-school programs with public school kids, but they will never truly get the same level of social interaction public/private school kids get because they aren't going through exactly the same trials in exactly the same way. Don't get me wrong, I loved the freedom I had when I was a freelancer and I will likely go back to that lifestyle some day but I would be lying if I didn't admit that there was a certain sense of disconnectedness I felt after all those years being on my own. I'm happy as a full time employee now and that's all that matters.

noisy_boy 12y ago
Interesting - I guess the amount of time spent and the degree of common goals, amount of common successes/failures do have a bearing on the strength of sense of belonging to a group. Maybe the experience you were getting in the meetups etc, wasn't scoring high on those points. E.g. you may be only spending 2 hours on the weekly football you play with your friends, but the sheer intensity of the shared experience in such a short time might give you more satisfaction than other activities you may be doing more frequently.

noisy_boy 12y ago

Interesting - I guess the amount of time spent and the degree of common goals, amount of common successes/failures do have a bearing on the strength of sense of belonging to a group. Maybe the experience you were getting in the meetups etc, wasn't scoring high on those points. E.g. you may be only spending 2 hours on the weekly football you play with your friends, but the sheer intensity of the shared experience in such a short time might give you more satisfaction than other activities you may be doing more frequently.