One aspect of being unemployed for an extended period of time is being socially isolated which personally confuses me about myself sometimes. My self perception is everchanging in a periodic manner like a sinusoid. It is sometimes subtle, sometimes very loud. It goes like:

Maybe I am not that smart. Probably I am not that smart. I am not smart. I am really dumb. Maybe I am not that dumb. I can be smart. I am actually smarter than average. Then back to the maybe I am not that smart.

Being out of the social circles of your peers is not necessarily a negative thing. It forces some introspection that most busy people are too busy to pursue. It is humbling and I think being humble is a nice virtue.