It was an unusually warm February day in 2017 when I walked into Studio 2, a quaint coffee shop in South Minneapolis, and nervously scanned the room. I was looking for a maybe (?), potentially (??), soon-to-be new friend. I didn’t see her. I pulled out my phone and glanced at my Instagram messages, double-checking (fine, triple-checking) that I was indeed in the right place.

I stood there, unsuccessfully trying to fit in, my mind beginning to perform the mental gymnastics it likes to do before any social encounter—What will we talk about? Do we shake hands? Hug? Not engage in physical contact at all? Will they like me? As a human???—until my maybe, potentially, soon-to-be new friend walked in.

“Kendall! Hi!” I yelled across the crowded space, with an overeager wave to match. We exchanged greetings, ordered coffee, sat down, talked. We covered all the usual bases, and for an hour and a half we got to know each other there, from across the table next to the window. Some time later, we got up to leave, exchanged numbers, hugged, and went our separate ways. And NOT TO BREAK THE MAGIC WITH A BUNCH OF SPOILERS, but in the year and a half since that balmy February day, Kendall and I have become actual friends. I’m going to be in her wedding next June. I cannot wait.

So that’s it, really. My journey in making new friends as an adult. You grab coffee. You click. You get to be in their wedding. Everything is perfect!!

No, just kidding. The road to friendship bliss can be a bit more meandering than that, as it turns out.

A Post-College Friendship Limbo

It had first occurred to me a few years prior, this inkling to make new friends. I had been out of school for a while, in the midst of a weird post-college friendship limbo. The majority of my friends were often busy—with long-term relationships, with family, with work, with travel. I was busy too, but there were still plenty of weekends when I found myself entirely alone. I wanted to meet new people. I wanted to expand my community, if you will. But I had no idea where to start. Where does one even make friends as an adult?? I had no idea.

Growing up (at least for me), new friendships were made in rather formulaic environments. You went to daycare, you made friends there. You went to school, you made a few more. You went to summer camp, you latched onto a few new people. You participated in extracurriculars, you made friends with shared interests. On and on it went, with more of the same in middle school and high school. If you then decided to go to college and live in the very small, contained spaces known as dorm rooms, you had the chance to make even more friends. You were set. It’s not that it was always easy, the business of making friends during school. But there were plenty of built-in opportunities—nuggets of time and proximity that were sure to render you at least a few confidants.

That all seemed to change after school. Unless you worked in an office with a lot of people around your age (whose company you also happened to enjoy?) or were coordinated enough to participate in a sporting league or outgoing enough that you simply happened to meet people in the public realm, the task of making new friends could feel daunting. Which is exactly the predicament I found myself in prior to that February day.

Friendships Born From the Internet

“So, how did you do it?” you may find yourself asking. “How did you overcome your mild fear of human interaction plus occasional social ineptitude long enough to convince people to give you a chance over coffee??” Terrific questions. A+ inquiries. The thing that allowed me to meet most of my new friends was, actually, the internet.

A friend (/mentor/former boss) named Danielle had published a blog post titled Find a Friend in Your City, hoping to respond to the exact quandary I described above. Her goal was exactly as it sounds—to connect people who were interested in meeting new friends in their respective cities. Over the course of the next few months, I connected with multiple women through that means alone (Kendall included!), all of whom are still good friends of mine today.

I’ve met folks in the comments section of other blogs too. And if at this point you’re thinking, Jackie, do you just… prowl the various comments sections of the internet in your spare time, hoping to lure in new friends??, the answer is a definitive yes. Or, I mean, not really. But comments sections of websites you love actually aren’t a bad place to meet people. After all, you already know you share similar interests in at least some respects; that common ground can be a good place from which to begin a relationship. I would recommend.

Another way I’ve met people online? Through the apps on my phone that occupy so damn much of my time—through social media. Often the people I meet via Instagram or Twitter are those I’ve known for years, before one of us finally caves, slides into the ol’ DMs, and says, “Would you want to grab drinks sometime?” Social media platforms can be great, connective places in their own right. But getting to know people in person? That’s generally even better.

Making New Friends in Every Phase of Life

I’ve realized over this past year and a half the value of both well-established friendships and newer ones. The friends I’ve had since high school and college know me. They’re aware of my quirks and shortcomings; they could list off many an embarrassing story that should never see the light of day. As far as relationships go, they’re the easy, comfortable kind, grounded by a strong foundation built brick by brick over the years.

The friendships I’ve made more recently? They’ve opened my eyes to new ways of living and being in the world. They’ve changed my perspective and made me examine my own patterns and habits more closely. Every time I meet someone new, every time we click, I’m wholly amazed all over again. There are so many people floating around these places in which we live—people with diverse backgrounds and viewpoints and stories to share—and I’ve realized I’m doing myself a disservice if I don’t at least try to get to know a few more of them.

Tips for Making Friends in Adulthood

If you are not in the market for new friends right now? That is fine! That is cool. I understand it and I respect it. If you are? This is the part where I distill down a few of my own suggestions for how to do so. There is no set strategy, no predetermined path everyone must take to make new friends, to build their respective communities. So take mine with a grain of salt, and let me know if you have any of your own (please and thank you!!). Alright, here we go:

• Hop into the comments section of your favorite blog. Mention the city you live in, ask if anyone else lives there too. If you get a response, connect with that person on social media. Meet up face-to-face if it feels right. This method might sound weird on paper but hey, sometimes it works.
• If social media is more your jam, think of the people you interact with most on your platforms of choice. Send them a DM. Ask if they’d like to meet for coffee or drinks sometime. The worst that can happen is they don’t respond or they say no. (Believe me, I’ve long gone over all the worst possible outcomes in my head; the legwork has been done.) You can survive a no, I promise.
• It is also possible—rare though it may seem!!—to encounter people out in the wild. I’ve met folks through mutual friends and on planes and at various public locales and at the extremely niche event that was the live taping of a podcast. The key to meeting people in real life is, in my experience, to be present—to put down your electronic devices and pay attention as the world spins around you. I am not trying to lecture, I swear (I generally maintain a vice grip on my phone too! I am working on it.)—I am more so issuing a gentle reminder. People will approach you with much more ease if you’re not engrossed in a screen at all times.

These circles of relationships we make and foster over the years don’t have to close up after high school or college. They can keep expanding and contracting, ebbing and flowing with whatever stage of life we happen to be in right now. We grow, we change, and we can continue to invite new people in. Who knows: The next person you meet might be exactly the one you need in that moment. They also might not be, and that’s okay too. Either way, by my calculation, you may very well get some coffee out of the deal. And coffee? Coffee is always a good idea.