Ask HN: How to Escape Professional Isolation?

This pandemic has taught us how to live with ourselves while our social circles shrunk. The impact is also felt in the professional relationships, even more for those of us who are freelancers or independents.

Creating new meaningful professional relationships has become hard. I'm a member of a few online communities, but they're more centered around specific questions and answers. I'm happy to chat and share my knowledge, but it has never translated to some kind of connection.

How do you deal with this issue?