Divorce inherently causes a shake up in your family life and your relationship with your former partner, but it can create waves in your social life as well.
A recently growing area of study and social reflection includes the loss of friendship and social isolation that can occur after divorce or separation. Here at Fayr, we're committed to supporting you through your separation, your new life as a co-parenting, and to helping you be your best, happiest self for your kids. As such, we've gathered up some of our favorite resources to help you strengthen and grow your social connections wherever you are in the co-parenting life cycle.
Here are our favorite methods, tips, + tools for strengthening your social connections after divorce:
1) In Person
- Connect with existing friends: Yes, it is likely that a separation will strain or cause distance in certain relationships, like those originating with your former partner and those that were created in your time as a couple. But don't let that stop you from reaching out to your best buddies. Researchers have found that after divorce a person's network of friends overall increases. Divorced and separated folks often find “more closeness and intensity” within their individual group of friends.
- Meetups: Especially early on in divorce, it can be really helpful to meet people who are going through your same experience. Meetups are a fabulous for making in-person connections and creating community with people in your same stage and location. Of particular interest might be: Co-Parenting, Divorce Support, and Divorced Parents groups.
- Hobbies: Want time to not talk about your separation? Connect with people in your area by joining a local gym or yoga studio, taking language lessons or cooking classes, or volunteering at an organization you love. You can do many of these activities with your kids OR you can use them to fill/embrace your non-custodial nights.
2. Online
Sometimes the people we have the most in common with don't live close to us—or even in our same state or country. This is precisely where the internet comes in handy. Social networks and websites can not only provide robust sources of content and knowledge, they can also help us give and receive support, encouragement, and connection.
Facebook groups:
- Co-Parents (@coparentsrus)
- Co-Parenting Clan (@coparentingclan)
- Fayr (@befayr)
Websites:
- Divorced Guy Grinning
- This Life in Progress
- Divorced Girl Smiling
- Since My Divorce
- Cafe Mom
- The Good Men Project
- Working Mother
Instagram:
3. At the Library
The list below is for the introverts, for the times before bed, for the downtimes after work when you’d rather curl up with wine and connect via story. These books are a selection of memoirs, advice books, and spiritual tools for processing your transition and stepping fully into your new, beautiful life.
- Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
- How to Sleep Alone in a King Sized Bed: A Memoir of Starting Over by Theo Pauline Nestor
- When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron
- Conscious Uncoupling: 5 Steps to Living Happily Even After by Katherine Woodward Thomas
- Aftermath: On Marriage and Separation by Rachel Cusk
- Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed
