I Am an Island (or at least I feel like one)

Gentle readers, maybe you can help me figure out this dilemma in which I seem to find myself. I was thinking over my life yesterday and I realized there are similarities in a number of relationships. But I don't know what the hell to do about it.

So here goes. At work, my client was laid off. Fortunately, I still have a job, but the replacement client contact is very different. Before, we would talk most every day by phone, and she took a genuine interest in my work. Now, I only get emails from the replacement, just down to business, not much personal info; or we schedule a conference call with 4 or 5 people. Bottom line, it's quite isolating. Very little feedback and I have no idea of the "person" with whom I'm dealing.

Also at the office, my co-worker and I have never been best buds, but we work well together. Except lately, we seem to disagree on everything. Not shouting matches, but disagreements all the same. She never stops by to chat over nothing, and when I try to engage her in conversation, she always seems rushed, busy or uninterested. Again, isolating.

At home, very similar. My partner's stroke has changed him, and I'm trying to adjust. He's much quieter than before, and I miss his wicked sense of humor. He mostly seems concerned with dinner, TV and going to bed. When we manage to leave the house, he has very little to say around others--he might as well not even be there. It's pretty much the same with me. We chit-chat but we don't seem to talk anymore, and when I try to engage him, he has little to say. Because of all this, I feel isolated from him and our friends.

Sure, I can make a list of things to do to "help" or improve each situation. But what of the bigger picture? Did I create all these isolating situations myself? Is there something about me that is turning people away? What is the bigger lesson here?

Or maybe it just sucks!

Now, I do have friends who I see regularly, and I feel quite connected online. But in the major relationships in my life, well, something's up. Thoughts, anyone?