How a theme post helped me to find community and beat loneliness

During the PandemicThe human connection was distant and dangerous. The proximity became life -threatening, gathering felt illegal, and zoo calls were the only connection to other people. What should be a “see them later” in two weeks was isolated for months, which for a few years of separation was isolated.

A report General found from the general surgeon that half of the adults experienced loneliness, and many Americans still feel the effects of quarantine, distancing protocols and unlimited screen times, about five years later. It is worse that loneliness is not just a feeling; It is a epidemic This correlates with cognitive declinePresent hypertensionPresent mental illnessesPresent diabetesPresent Infectious diseasesand more.

I was one of these lonely people. So I decided to do something about it this year. I found a personal hobby that quickly became an important part of my life in the most unlikely places: threads.

A trip to Denver changed my life

So that this story makes sense, we have to return until June 26, 2022 for the first time. If you live in Colorado and are a sports fan, you can see this date as a day when the Colorado Avalanche won the Stanley Cup against the light from Tampa Bay.

This day was also proud of Denver, and my partner and I decided to take the hike from Boulder to Denver to take over the sights and activities. We were not entirely aware of the “big game”, but we were not on the move for this purpose. We landed in a bar with an interesting mix of rainbow boas and avalanche.

I will never forget to be fascinated by the highly intensive skating, the fans and the energy that I felt in the city center of Denver that day. It was as if I were returning to the “era” while I was stumbling on something new that I couldn’t explain.

When Nathan Mackinnon and Artturi Lehkonen scored the Tie B goal, I was addicted. Ice hockey was about to become my new personality.

A few months later I visited my first Avalanche game in the Ball Arena with my partner, which made us fall more in love with sport and organization. The player jerseys were ordered, memorial pucks appeared in my house thanks to Fedex in the magical way and shows like Letterkenny were repeated.

I realized that it was not just the aesthetics to make a hockey fan in a hockey state or the hockey game addicted. It was the community that moved me further.

Knowing the insider jokes of the Home Broadcasting team to make trading forecasts with other hockey enthusiasts on Facebook and pursuing the players’ career over the NHL became a ritual that deepened my connection to sport and other people. This new world was urgently, inviting and strange healthy for a sport with blades, clubs and fights involved.

I quickly expanded my interest from Just Avalanche Hockey when the professional women’s hockey League (PWHL) announced its opening season 2023. Women’s women’s hockey exploded and then I thought: “If Taylor Heise can, why can’t I?”

Have I ever played hockey? Have I ever driven in hockey skates? Did I want to try it anyway? Absolutely.

So I posted on threads

As a neurodian woman who hadn’t found friends for years, I knew that it would be a big step for me to try a new sport with new people in new places. As with every decent millennial, I first turned to the Internet. Maybe someone would advise me on how I can play a new sport at the age of 32.

I hadn’t expected the answer I received when I posted on threads.

Through this individual post, I was immediately connected to people who not only loved hockey, but also played hockey and found friends who do it. I was lucky enough to make a member of the Denver Women’s Hockey League (DWHL) with Sarah Speights, a Wacht (Women’s Association of Colorado Hockey).

From there I registered for the Free Hockey 101 Clinic of the DWHL and started my journey with the Sarah skates and equipment that was borrowed from the DWHL.

I started skating lessons, visited the hockey clinic and immediately registered for the league.

I also took part in the Denver PWHL takeover in January and experienced over 14,000 women’s hockey fans (many of them also players) in one building. The community confirmed that I had to go on the ice.

A month later I convinced my partner to register for a second co-ed league. Now we play or practice on ice rink once or twice a week.

Do not give up on social media

People Social media A lot of flak, but in 2025 there is still a shimmer of its original purpose: the creation of community.

If you have to fight to find a selected family or community, as so many of us are, I recommend digging your current interests. Is there a way to get more involved in what is already solving for you? Can you research in online communities and find local meetings? Are there any reduced costs or free options?

I asked myself these questions and discovered a hobby that I love, people who share this interest and more community connection. It all started with a contribution to threads and old, free equipment. Stop worrying, look good, try it out and see what happens.