I like that hobbit analysis. There is something similar we've talked about in the support group I attend. This gut feeling some of us seem to have when we meet new people, the realization that they've hit rock bottom at one point in their lives like we have. A sort of quiet understanding of each other.

I'm way too tall to be a hobbit, but I guess the sense of not too many people realizing why I work so hard and how difficult it can be to fight through my self doubt can be interpreted as loneliness.

Thanks for the thoughts, it actually really helped.