Making Friends, Grown-up Style
One of the reasons being single works so well for me is my robust circle of what experts call social connections: some I've known forever, others I only recently met, some I share a bloodline with. Lots of studies and medical experts support that --single or married-- healthy relationships are what help keep people sane and thriving. Family, friends, co-workers, neighbors; it doesn't really matter who they are as long as you're good to and for each other.
Making new friends as an adult can be a challenge. When we're younger, we're in more situations where it's easy to meet people --school, sororities, the club, playing sports-- but these seemingly unending people options get thin once we're no longer doing those things. A couple of readers of this blog have commented that they want to be more socially connected, but it's a little more work. Here's how a few people I know are navigating this:
▪ My sister, Phyllis, has met a number of interesting and fun people while taking continuing education classes at American University (my alma-mater).
▪ My friend, Kim, is an active user of MeetUp.com, that helps people find and join groups of other people with whom they share a common interest. It can be politics, books, games, movies, health, pets, careers or hobbies. Users enter their ZIP code or their city and the topic they want to meet about, and the website helps them arrange a place and time to meet. Kim goes camping, plays Scrabble, and meets others who are learning French for dinner so they can practice their new language.
Rhona, a longtime reader of The Spinsterlicious Life, has this to add about making new friends… Read more: http://eleanorewells.com/making-friends-grown-up-style/
