viewerfromnihil
Vein-Marbled Tower
I guess it's relative. I've never been a social butterfly but I'm finally aligning myself with people I can trust and really good friendships with a small group of people. Socialization is a very important and necessary part of life so I understand I can't just barricade myself in my house all the time. Ever since I quit drinking my perspectives on things have changed. My friend and his wife had a cookout last night and I opted not to go even after another friend was goading me to come mainly because I was tired from my class. I usually make those gatherings and I figure I have the option to not to go one since i try to attend 80% of them.
I've found with my work emvironment, the people I used to hang out with can no longer be trusted for several reasons. As a result, I really only hang out with one person from work but she has essentially become my best work friend and female friend. She is also in recovery and we have grown closer as we have journeyed through sobriety together.
Not sure if I answered your question. Do I socialize outside of work? Yes. Do I have a social life? Your perspective dictates that.
Yeah, you answered it. You're definitely right on the drinking part. It can play proxy-company and make it easy to barricade yourself in. I try not to drink much if I'm not hanging with other people. And on hanging out with co-workers, I prefer to keep it friendly with some distance. Even with a good group of friends, drama inevitably arises, and that's not pretty in a work environment. Plus, when I loosen my tie too much, sometimes stuff comes out of my mouth that gets me fired.
I guess the one thing I might add is if there's an opening to expand your social network and fall into a new group of people, take it. It can give you something new to look forward to and it's also the best way to randomly meet a wifey.