Your late twenties/early thirties are a strange time. I have lots of friends, but I hardly ever see or speak to them anymore. We’re at different life stages. When we were all at uni and lived in each other’s pockets we shared all our common experiences; good, bad, bored, excited, skint, hungry, drunk. We were all we knew. Now? My married friends hang out with my other married friends without me. WhatsApp groups are flooded with parent bantz and pictures of their kids. It makes sense; people gravitate more towards those at the same life stage. But when you’re single among a sea of couples it can be hard not to feel like an island. I try not to let it hurt but it does. At sporadic gatherings, I find I have less in common; less to contribute to conversations with those who are married with kids (so most of my friends) For something to talk about I find myself grasping at fading 2009 nostalgia, whereas they’re all living in the present making new memories. I realised last week I’d have no one to ask to come and watch me run the half marathon I’ve been training for. No one I could randomly call without it being weird. No one I could meet up with without booking it 3 months in advance. I reach out sometimes, but find stilted small talk with those I used to be so close to hard. I’m strong and independent but jeez it would nice to be someone’s priority for once. The first lockdown really showed me how little my life even had to adapt; I barely saw anyone during my weekends before and I don’t now. I guess maybe I subconsciously distance myself from my friends as I’m embarrassed of the lack of anything interesting in my life at the moment. I like the idea of taking some time out to focus on my goals to re-emerge like, “oh this guy? Yeah I’m in a long term relationship now. Oh yeah and this is my place, I’m a homeowner now. Booooyah!” So yeah. It does help to see I’m not the only one feeling this way though. As someone earlier said, there must be dozens of us across the world!