Loneliness of country living

as a human I guess im a social creature.
for years ive been trying to start a coop  to run as a for profit business for everyone involved and get the furniture factory the previous owner of my property created back up and running, its kid of a crude factory but fully functional and loads of raw materials on site. but the plain stark reality ive come to realize is nobody wants to work. and forgive me if this seems all wrong or awkward but maybe me experience is limited or not the same as others but  a very small percentage of people want to befriend strangers unless they can profit from it or gain from it in some way. one way I tested this and was saddened by the outcome, I placed an ad on craigslist looking for musicians and songwriters that would want to get together and make music just for fun, for the shear fun of it. no responses from anyone serious, but lots of responses from people wanting to sell time in their home recording studios.
so for now I stick with the few real friends I do have and will stay open to meeting new people and making more real friends.

I have the opposite problem. I love solitary life and being away from folks completely. Closest neighbor is a quarter of a mile and that is too close. I guess we each have different personalities! Love to go outside and know when I'm alone so I can pee under the trees and skinny dip under the (small) waterfall.

We live rural, and are "alone with nature" ... couldn't imagine any other way. How can one be truly alone, when surrounded by nature? We have our immediate family around us now, and long-term, will be working towards a true multi-generational farm. That is just the right amount of people in one space (some amount of acreage).

This doesn't mean you have to cut off all contact ...

Join the local VFD ... we met a lot of folks that way. Young or old, there is always a way for you to be of help to the community. Fighting fire, maintaining the station and equipment, or even just making lunches. Join their VFD auxiliaries. Apply all the knowledge gained towards your own property.

We get together with our friends, for our version of a rural block-party. Our place, any one of their places, and always out in the middle of nowhere, on their version of 40 acres. Sometimes it's two families, most times it's a bunch of families. The kids are out the car door before I can get it in park ...

We discovered these friends doing exactly what *we* are doing, and found them in farmers' markets, events/festivals, and more ... just finding one family, immediately found us 10 more, thru their friends & contacts. Find such events, and talk with the folks there (most are local). If no such events ... make one. Host a preparedness fair ... get a nearby community center (like the local VFD station), or a small town community center that will allow access for free, and bring your skills. Distance no longer matters ...

Life slows way down in the country ... I think I've added years back to my life, and my children are much better off than I was, growing up.

I feel wonderful and in good company while “alone” in nature but loneliest when surrounded by people I don’t know and those who are unkind or who I do not trust. The loneliest thing is not a vast, uninterrupted wilderness but a city, town or country road filled with signs that say “GO AWAY” and “NO TRESPASSING”, people who give you cold looks and do not wave back when you wave or just hurry along with their noses in the air. I think loneliness maybe isn’t as much being not around anyone else, but feeling unsupported, marginalized or victimized by those around you—in which case, if you can take care of yourself well, being alone might be a great deal more preferable than being in a bad relationship with other people.

Greg Payton wrote:I have the opposite problem. I love solitary life and being away from folks completely. Closest neighbor is a quarter of a mile and that is too close. I guess we each have different personalities! Love to go outside and know when I'm alone so I can pee under the trees and skinny dip under the (small) waterfall.

This is also where I live, though a different location.

Sorry about the no trespassing signs which are meant to keep out deer poachers.

And I probably was rude to the guy who was inside our gate and wanted me to go open the gate for him.  That might be a 1/2 to one mile walk. What was he doing inside the gate?  Pipeline worker from the pipeline at the other end of the road.  Why did he not use their gate?