The author started making new friends after her divorce.
Courtesy of Theresa Pickett
After I wrote about moving to the suburbs near Columbia, Maryland, for love — and the nostalgia that hit when I missed living in my hometown, Nashville, after that relationship ended — people began reaching out.They sent kind messages and suggestions for how I could get more involved locally. One reader even invited me to visit her church, which I happily accepted. The gesture was generous, but I couldn't shake the feeling that I hadn't found my people.I had built a life in Maryland over more than a decade, but it was centered on a relationship. When I got divorced, many things remained — the townhouse, the neighborhood walks — but the sense of belonging didn't.After my divorce, I tried dating, but I learned that it was more important to focus on building community after neglecting to do so for years. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that romance wouldn't create the support system I needed.So I did something different. I downloaded a friendship app.I downloaded a friendship appCreating a profile for friendship felt like a familiar exercise. With a background in marketing and copywriting, I approached it the way I would destination writing by describing what a day with me might look like. I uploaded photos that captured highlights from my life: a sunny day on a boat, a beach getaway.Then I started swiping.
