Recapping 2025: The Highs, the Lows, and the Lessons in Divorce, Love, and Miscommunication

As 2025 comes to a close, many of us find ourselves doing what we swore we wouldn’t—looking back. Not to dwell, but to understand. Divorce has a way of dividing life into before and after, and dating post-divorce often feels like a series of emotional audits: What worked? What didn’t? And why did communication feel so hard when we were “trying again”?

This year was full of both growth and grief, hope and hesitation. If you’re divorced, dating, or somewhere in between, 2025 likely brought moments that stretched you in ways you didn’t expect.

The Highs: Rediscovering Yourself and Your Voice

One of the biggest wins of 2025 was self-awareness. Many divorcees entered the year unsure of what they wanted, only to end it with more precise boundaries and a stronger sense of self.

The highs didn’t always come from relationships; they came from you:

• Speaking up instead of shrinking

• Walking away from situations that felt confusing or one-sided

• Realizing peace is more attractive than chaos

• Choosing emotional safety over potential

  
  

For some, love showed up unexpectedly in the form of a slow burn, a healthy connection, or simply learning that being alone no longer felt like failure. That’s growth.

The Lows: When Trying Again Felt Harder Than Starting Over:

Let’s be honest—2025 also came with its fair share of disappointment.

There were the false starts. The “almosts.” The people who said they wanted connection but disappeared when it required effort. The dates that went well… until communication didn’t.

One of the hardest lows for many divorcees this year was realizing that trying again doesn’t always mean trying better, especially when old patterns resurface. Miscommunication, avoidance, and emotional shutdowns felt especially painful because we thought we were past that stage of life.

Ghosting hurts more when you’ve done the work. Silence cuts deeper when you’ve learned how to communicate.

The Communication Breakdown: Talking, Texting, and Then… Nothing

If 2025 had a theme, it might be this: constant miscommunication or complete cut-off communication.

We talked about communication endlessly, yet struggled to practice it consistently.

Some patterns that surfaced:

• Over-texting instead of honest conversations

• Avoiding hard talks to “keep things easy.”

• Pulling away instead of asking questions

• Assuming instead of clarifying

• Shutting down at the first sign of discomfort

  
  

For divorcees, cut-off communication can be especially triggering. It echoes old wounds being dismissed, ignored, or left without answers. The silence isn’t just silence; it’s unresolved history knocking again. It's cowardly.

What 2025 Taught Us About Love After Divorce

This year reminded us that healing doesn’t make dating effortless; it makes it honest.

Trying again doesn’t mean tolerating confusion. It doesn’t mean chasing clarity from people who can’t give it. And it definitely doesn’t mean abandoning your needs to keep someone comfortable.

2025 taught us:

• Consistency matters more than chemistry

• Communication is action, not intention

• Emotional availability is not negotiable

• Silence is an answer, and yes, it will create a new type of hurt even when you were trying to keep things simple

• You don’t need closure from someone who couldn’t show up - hell no, run the other way!

  
  

As we step into a new year, the goal isn’t perfection—it’s awareness.

Take a moment to recap your own highs and lows:

• Where did you grow up?

• Where did you settle?

• Where did communication break down—and what did you learn from it?

• You may ask WHY people are acting so immaturely still and feeling like they really couldn't care less about your feelings.

• You may see what you actually want and need.

• You may discover you are stronger than you've ever been.

  
  

If 2025 taught us anything, it’s that love after divorce isn’t about starting over mindlessly. It’s about starting wiser. Learn from every experience.

Just maybe trying again doesn’t mean opening your heart to everyone. It means opening it to what feels safe, reciprocal, and honest. Though be aware of the fools and the breadcrumbs.

Cheers to discovery in 2026!

Erin