Premier bay Area matchmaker

Never too Late for Love

The Nob Hill Gazette’s April 2022 Issue (p. 49) features another Amy Andersen success story from the Bay Area based Peggy and Douglas who found one another through Linx and the help of Andersen. Linx caters to all ages (20’s to 70’s) and is dedicated to the endless possibilities of love and romance that can happen at any age. The article in its entirety is included below.

It’s Never too Late for Love

Written by Katie Sweeney from The Nob Hill Gazette

Love can happen any time in life. Take the modern love story of Douglas Spreng and Peggy Lucchesi. Spreng, a retired 77-year-old executive, decided to try online dating in 2020.” I dated through the pandemic,” he says. He used Our Time, a website and app geared toward adults over 50. “There were peaks and valleys. I was dating the whole time and I probably dated 20 women in a year.’ Tired of striking out, Spreng contacted a fellow Harvard alumnus who started a boutique matchmaking service in San Francisco. “People usually reach out to me,’ says Shannon Lundgren, the founder of Shannon’s Circle, “and I get to know them and find out, can I help them?” 

Any person can sign up to be in her database of singles, but paying clients get the benefit from being set up on dates and finding a potential match. “When Douglas came to me, I did a lot of getting to know him,” Lundgren recalls. “The most common qualities that people tell me they’re looking for is someone intellectual curious and kind.” Lundgren set him up on several Zoom dates, but no Sparks Flew. Having combed through the possible candidates in Shannon’s circle, Lundgren called Amy Andersen, another local matchmaker, to see if anyone in her database might be a good fit for Spreng.

Enter Peggy Lucchesi. When Lucchesi moved from New Jersey to the Bay Area in 2014 to be closer to her daughter and grandchildren, she met with Andersen founder of Linx Dating. “I got a call from Amy Andersen after about five years,” Lucchesi recounts. “She said, “I think there’s somebody you might be interested in. Do you want me to send you his profile?”

Spreng and Lucchesi agreed to an online date. It was supposed to last 45 minutes but extended for hours. She invited him to join her for lunch and a swim at the house she shared with her daughter’s family – and the rest is history. “Just imagine a couple of 70-somethings in their bathing suits, jumping around the pool,” Spreng says enthusiastically. “We didn’t kiss on the first date. That would’ve been premature. But there was something about her that made me feel special and relaxed.”

Their relationship progressed rapidly from there. Was it love at first sight? Not quite, but almost. Now the couple lives together, and although they have yet to celebrate their first anniversary, they haven’t ruled out a proposal. What’s their advice to older people looking for love? Don’t let yourself go, stay in good shape, pursue hobbies and be social. But most important: “Accept the idea that it’s possible,” Lucchesi says. “You can find the love of your life at this stage of life.”

Experience The Linx Difference

Experience Matters 

After nearly 18 years in business, we are arguably one of the most seasoned matchmakers in the industry and are regularly spoken of as the top global matchmaker worldwide. Thousands of interviews later, we can confidently say that experience matters when hiring a tier one matchmaker.  We offer in-depth knowledge and expertise, as well as unparalleled reach via our network, for our clients. 

When doing your due diligence researching matchmaking firms, look for a company where the primary matchmaker working on your search is an industry veteran – someone who has sat through thousands of meetings, made countless matches, and who understands human behavior… someone with strong, deeply honed intuition and pattern recognition vs. a green matchmaker who’s been in the business for only a few years!

One of the greatest appeals of Linx is that our clients will work directly with Amy Andersen, the founder and CEO, throughout the search. Clients are not “farmed off” to junior matchmakers or individuals with little or no vested interest in the well-being of the client. 

Privacy and Reputation Matter

Keeping our client and prospect information private is a hallmark of the Linx philosophy and we maintain a sterling reputation in the industry, in this regard.

Trustworthiness goes hand in hand with how we conduct our work, and we adhere to the highest standards of integrity to ensure that we protect the identities of our clients and members. This means that we will not reveal any identifiable candidate information until a match is made and we certainly do not gossip about “whom” we work with around town as we live our daily lives. 

Founder and CEO Amy Andersen has emerged as the “Cupid of Silicon Valley” having matched many of Silicon Valley’s high profile tech elite, Hollywood, founder & CEOs, and more. Due to the private nature of many of Linx’s high profile clients, we operate meetings in our private offices, gardens, and also offer house visits.  

Exclusivity Matters 

Linx Dating does not cater to the masses – we represent high-caliber clientele who seek our niche, highly reputable approach to matchmaking. There are numerous other services that claim to be “exclusive” and to be working with “elite clients,” but the reality is, they broadcast their services in airline magazines and do not maintain the same standard of quality as Linx. 

Linx is the only upscale matchmaking firm that does not publicly advertise its services. We do not need to, as our client base has been built via nearly two decades of word-of-mouth referrals from happy clients and our extended social and professional networks.

Linx is also the only firm to cherry-pick clients whom we know we can genuinely help. We don’t work with everyone who applies and have been coined the “Stanford or Harvard University” of matchmakers. In being selective, we maintain our exclusivity and do not dilute our brand by taking on more business than we can handle. 

Integrity Matters

That said, even if we feel we cannot effectively help someone after our preliminary meet-and-greet, we always provide prospects with options and never leave them rudderless.  

The Network Matters 

It goes without saying, in hiring a tier-one firm, that you want an incredible network of passive members and premium clients, from whom to draw in sourcing potential matches. In other words, the network is everything! Without such a serious social network and trusted connections, a matchmaker has little to go on. 

To center in on a network, you want a highly developed local network. Though Linx has historically specialized in the San Francisco Bay Area / Silicon Valley and continues to do so, it has also accumulated a substantial network in Southern California. As they say with real estate, location, location, location! Linx is wedged in the heart of Silicon Valley and is here to stay! Moreover, though heavily anchored in California, Linx attracts members from all over the US and the globe including Seattle, New York, Texas, the Middle East, Europe, and Asia. 

Marketing Matters 

We know how important marketing is when it comes to our VIP client searches. With the right presentation, we can significantly optimize your positioning when it comes to attracting the ideal match. 

We are the only global firm that specializes in leveraging our trusted brand to market select VIP searches through use of social media, our blog, and website. We are consistently applauded for our content and writing. We have a very trusted team dedicated to graphic design, wordsmithing, and photography to make our VIP client descriptions shine, such that they ultimately attract the right candidates to apply to meet the client. 

We are proud to share that our method is a proven one.  Time and time again, VIP searches that were listed on the Linx Dating website attracted an exact “needle in a haystack” match for our VIPs.  After scrupulous vetting, we matched the client to the prospect and, well, the rest is history.  

Timing and Preparation Matter

We are experts in carefully helping prospects transition to dating, often after having not dated for a significant period of time, e.g. after the loss of a loved one, separation, breakup, or divorce. We know how vital it is, before you “go on the market” again to get prepared and to go to market with success and gusto.  From providing the new client with nuggets of dating wisdom, to strategic thinking around the type of match they need for a healthy and long-term thriving relationship, and countless preparation techniques (wardrobe, coaching, concierge, etc.) we have you covered! 

Collaboration Matters 

We have trusted partnerships and deep resources when it comes to specialists in various fields. At Linx we know where our core expertise lies and are careful not to dilute our matchmaking efforts.  As such, we leverage our trusted connections, as needed, to provide a full suite of offerings to clients.  These include wardrobe styling, hair, make-up, photography, date coaching, fitness, nutrition, concierge services, and access to other elite matchmaking firms with whom we might collaborate on certain searches, so as to cast an even wider net.

Equality Matters 

While most traditional matchmaking firms do not seek to represent women as actual paying clients, Linx is extremely proud to do so – we represent many such educated and dynamic females who are bright, sophisticated, and possess stellar academic backgrounds.  

Technology Matters 

Although we are steeped in old school traditional methodology and human intuition when it comes to matchmaking, we do not operate in the stone age.

Our team regularly utilizes proprietary data science techniques, as appropriate, to cull candidates in executive search/recruiting style “out of network” searches for VIP clients.

Healthy Clients Matter

We work with individuals who are balanced and healthy – mentally and physically – and are in the right place to get serious about finding the loves of their lives!  

Our clients typically lead active lifestyles and enjoy the creature comforts with some moderation. Linx is also the only matchmaking firm that chooses not to work with smokers. 

Personalization and Passion Matter

As Linx only accepts a select number of clients annually, all of whom work directly with founder/CEO Amy Andersen, our services are highly personalized, narrowly tailored to the needs of the client, and built around regular and direct access to Amy, who built the business from scratch and is deeply passionate about what she does.

Philanthropic Silicon Valley gentleman seeks like-minded family centric and charitably minded match for a lifetime of adventure!

Our client is a marriage minded 35 year old Asian American intellectual, standing at 5’9” with an athletic build, black hair, and brown eyes. Ever thoughtful and still a big dreamer, his background, current success, and future plans are all quite extraordinary. Family has been immensely important to him at all stages of his journey, raising him to value education and work ethic, supporting him in his current endeavor as founder of an incredibly ambitious and risky tech startup, and finally being his primary motivation to pursue philanthropy and bring economic opportunities to all people by investing in their education.

Our client grew up in the suburbs of Southern California with hard-working parents, a younger sister, and a younger brother. He immediately found himself adapting to fit into multiple different subgroups including overachievers, athletes, weirdos, and Chinese-first language speakers, which has influenced him to highly value open-mindedness to this day. A balance between strict tiger parenting styles from the East and more individualistic and encouraging styles from his teachers trained in the West, built him into the highly successful and balanced man he is today. 

Immediately after graduating with his bachelor’s in computer science from a top California school, he started his career as a software engineer and things really started to pick up. He hatched a plan 8 years ago and is still executing it: get some early stage startup experience and financial buffer (done), start his own company, and finally use the accumulated resources to “retire” into a life of philanthropy to help end poverty and bring about an egalitarian society by empowering all people with a quality education they can use to build their own livelihood. 

His motto in life is that he is “earning to give” – earning money to eventually give back to society one day. Very few people think like this – especially in Silicon Valley where greed, power, and material wealth are the currency that fuels the economy for many “keeping up with the Joneses” types. 

Outside of work, our candidate has fun too. He generally prefers the outdoors and athletic activities such as gravel biking and backpacking throughout California’s beautiful natural scenery, basketball, and archery at local indoor and outdoor ranges. He has also traveled to six continents and never found a cuisine he doesn’t like. Even after nearly being a victim of ATM theft in Cape Town, he sat down at a restaurant to enjoy traditional African cuisine including fried Mopane worms (caterpillars) which he found very chewy and meaty! Ultimately, spending time with friends and family is more important to him than the particular activity, so he frequently joins them for live shows, museums, and crafts as well. 

His dream match is between the ages of 26-35 years old, feminine, with a healthy athletic physique, and medium to long hair. He’s open to all races and backgrounds but leans towards Asian American and Caucasian. 

His future wife would be best described as his partner in life. She’s probably at the intersection of extroversion and introversion, very sharp and intelligent, and yet with a self-awareness.  She’s worked hard to get to where she’s at professionally and academically and perhaps could be considered “gritty” and industrious. If something isn’t working, she’s going to come up with a unique solution- she’s a good problem solver. Our client dreams of meeting a powerful female in her career who’s kicking butt and paving the way for other “alpha” women.

Her family, relationship with loved ones, and friends are core to her existence. Friends can rely on her and although she’s busy with her profession, she’s the type of person that would bring chicken soup over to a sick friend. 

Values are extremely important to her and she can envision a shared path of giving back to society with her future husband one day. The foundation and philanthropy that high profile individuals like Bill and Melinda Gates have created with so much impact provide inspiration to dream and think big about what a shared vision of charity really means. 

It should be noted, our client has not been married, does not have any children and looks forward to both in his life soon. He hopes for a big family and would love to meet a woman who is excited to be a loyal wife and amazing mother to raise their children together! 

If you or anyone you might know could qualify as a candidate to meet this incredible VIP, please submit your information here. Please note, there are NO fees for qualifying candidates to meet our client. Thank you so much!

Attractive Silicon Valley CEO seeks cerebral and athletic girl next door….

Our handsome Caucasian VIP bachelor stands tall at 6’4″ with a healthy musculature and athletic physique, and is based in the heart of Silicon Valley. Born and raised in the Midwest, he is marriage-minded and values hard work, healthy living, humility, and substance.

He is a natural leader, adventurer-seeker, and dynamic self-starter. After completing his graduate studies at an Ivy League, he pursued a career abroad in finance, where he quickly rose through the ranks to hold executive management positions. After working abroad for over a decade, he returned to the states for his next adventure: building a deep tech company in Silicon Valley.

As founder and CEO of a burgeoning tech company, he is now ready to settle down and pursue the adventure of a lifetime with the right woman.

Outside of his very successful career, our VIP enjoys swimming, cycling, yoga, and reading to stay physically and mentally fit. In his spare time, he likes to build and contribute to the communities in which he’s involved: swim club, his neighborhood, veteran causes, just to name a few. He also loves spending time with friends, organizing and throwing parties, and making others smile!

He has a great sense of humor and hopes to find a woman to share laughs with. His ideal match is in her 30’s and has dated to the point where she is completely ready to settle down with her dream guy. If she is living outside of the Bay Area, she’s open to relocation and putting her roots into building an incredible life with her leading man in Silicon Valley.

His match is super cute and sporty, natural in her appearance, fit, smart, a strong communicator, social, warm hearted, humble, and has a heart of gold. Although our client leads a very comfortable nice life and is excited to provide for his family one day, the antithesis of his comfort zone are flashy labels, a life of excess, hard partying, and drama. He’s never been married, no kids, and looks forward to both.

This guy is a total catch and wants to find his dream partner in 2021. Now that Covid restrictions are lifted, what are you waiting for?

If you or anyone you know might make a beautiful match for this gem of a bachelor, please contact Amy at: amy@linxdating.com. Absolutely no fees for qualifying female candidates.

Announcing a new VIP search in Los Angeles

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We are thrilled to announce a new search for a woman residing in Los Angeles, CA. This client is open to relocation and ready for love! She is a smart, beautiful, strong, sexy, playful, and sophisticated 37-year-old woman, 5’4” with long blonde hair and soulful hazel eyes. She credits her athletic physique to an active lifestyle, including daily exercise, indoors and out. She has a jeans and t-shirt vibe by day, and a more feminine and sophisticated one by night: She prefers pants to dresses, and a natural look when it comes to makeup. Less is more. She has a smile that will light up any room, and her best friend from childhood says she loved to steal her drinks because “she always left a bit of sunshine behind in them.”

She grew up with horses, skiing/snowboarding with her family in Aspen in winters and going on their boat in the Mediterranean in summers. Morning routines are important to her; beginning on the right note allows her to feel awesome for the rest of the day. She loves hiking with her dogs, meditating, running, reading great books and playing guitar. She became certified as a yoga teacher just to deepen her own practice. She doesn’t teach professionally but will instruct her friends just for the pleasure of making them feel good. Some of her best times are spent with her dearest pals at her family’s spot in Malibu or their ranch in Ojai.

A graduate of an Ivy League school, she majored in history of art and architecture, while minoring in public and private sector organizations. She considers herself a student of life, for life, and is blessed with an insatiable curiosity. While living in New York, her womenswear design won her acclaim in top fashion magazines.

At 30, she shifted gears professionally, and pursued a new career in LA focusing on her principal passion: making the world a better place for animals. As a lifelong photographer, and a subject in numerous magazine photos herself, she knew that the quickest way to shift people’s perspectives was through that of media. She enrolled in an intensive directing program at a prominent LA film school, where she wrote, produced, and directed her first short film.

Although she is ambitious and driven in her goals, and appreciates those qualities in a partner, she believes that true happiness requires a balance, making her relationships a priority. Her perfect date would include witty banter, lots of laughter, and the full presence of both people. She melts at displays of thoughtfulness.

As a passionate animal advocate working predominantly with one of the largest non-profit organizations over the past 10 years, she’s also partnered with them in co-founding their next generation board and sits on the organization’s California state council, helping to drive legislative change.

Her favorite night is at home, a glass of wine and cooking with loved ones, hanging out by a fire with great music and the dogs. She cares about wellness, and considers herself 85% plant based. If you’re not, that’s ok. “You do you”.

This woman is genuine, loyal, caring, and emotionally intelligent and looking for someone who is evolved and has done the hard personal work of getting to know themselves, or at least has a desire to. She values family and wants to have kids in the next few years. For now, she has dogs for company. The last was a surprise. While volunteering at an elephant sanctuary in Thailand, she rescued a dog for her mom. But after a year, her mother found she couldn’t take care of it, so this client took the pooch in herself – not a surprise to anyone who knows this big-hearted woman.

Her best suited match is between the ages of 30 and 49 years old.  He is tall, athletic, fit, and with a great smile. He is considerate and thoughtful about others. He recognizes that while our client is a strong woman, she prefers him to be in the driver’s seat. She always has been curious about everything in life. Therefore, it’s important for her to be with a man who appreciates her innate wonder about the world. He inspires her and even sometimes fuels creative ideas that she would not have had otherwise.

His confidence and wherewithal to be an equal partner to her, will allow her to be the best version of who she is (playful, loving, and in her feminine flow), as she respects him (since she feels heard and loved by him). He is a man who dreams big and takes action, who likes intellectual conversations, just as much as silly banter, and ultimately one who might consider himself an old-fashioned romantic at heart.

Her best suited match also lives his life with purpose and knows what is important to him in this one life. He’s passionate, playful, smart, and equally charming. Outside of his career that he feels proud of and self-made from, he’s a lover of the outdoors, nature, and keeping his body healthy and active! Traveling, reading, cooking, nurturing friendships, and a love of animals are all bonuses for our client. Most importantly, he looks forward to having a family one day and the joys associated with monogamy and child rearing.

If you or anyone you might know could qualify as a candidate to meet this extraordinary and beautiful VIP, please submit your information here. There are NO fees for qualified candidates to meet our client.

Linx Featured in Modern Luxury’s Dynamic Women Issue

Love is not on lockdown….

                                                  Red heart
Dear Faithful readers,
First, our hearts go out to everyone who has been impacted by the CV climate. Like you, we are safely bunkered down in our homes and home offices. Although not making daily human contact in person (and gosh I miss that so much), we are extremely connected with our prospects and clients alike via brilliant technology created here in Silicon Valley.
I wanted to share with you some useful notes from a recent Goldman Sachs conference call with 1,500 companies dialed in. Given the tremendous amount of uncertainty swirling out there around the corona virus, the financial markets and our lives generally, I hope this can give at least one perspective.

THE KEY ECONOMIC TAKEAWAYS WERE:
-50% of Americans will contract the virus (150m people) as it’s very communicable. This is on a par with the common cold (Rhinovirus) of which there are about 200 strains and which the majority of Americans will get 2-4 per year.

-70% of Germany will contract it (58M people). This is the next most relevant industrial economy to be effected.

-Peak-virus is expected over the next eight weeks, declining thereafter.

-The virus appears to be concentrated in a band between 30-50 degrees north latitude, meaning that like the common cold and flu, it prefers cold weather. The coming summer in the northern hemisphere should help. This is to say that the virus is likely seasonal.

-Of those impacted 80% will be early-stage, 15% mid-stage and 5% critical-stage. Early-stage symptoms are like the common cold and mid-stage symptoms are like the flu; these are stay at home for two weeks and rest. 5% will be critical and highly weighted towards the elderly.

-Mortality rate on average of up to 2%, heavily weighted towards the elderly and immunocompromised; meaning up to 3m people (150m*.02). In the US about 3m/yr die mostly due to old age and disease, those two being highly correlated (as a percent very few from accidents). There will be significant overlap, so this does not mean 3m new deaths from the virus, it means elderly people dying sooner due to respiratory issues. This may however stress the healthcare system.

-There is a debate as to how to address the virus pre-vaccine. The US is tending towards quarantine. The UK is tending towards allowing it to spread so that the population can develop a natural immunity. Quarantine is likely to be ineffective and result in significant economic damage but will slow the rate of transmission giving the healthcare system more time to deal with the case load.

-China’s economy has been largely impacted which has affected raw materials and the global supply chain. It may take up to six months for it to recover.

-Global GDP growth rate will be the lowest in 30 years at around 2%.

-S&P 500 will see a negative growth rate of -15% to -20% for 2020 overall.

-There will be economic damage from the virus itself, but the real damage is driven mostly by market psychology. Viruses have been with us forever. Stock markets should fully recover in the 2nd half of the year.

-In the past week there has been a conflating of the impact of the virus with the developing oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia. While reduced energy prices are generally good for industrial economies, the US is now a large energy exporter, so there has been a negative impact on the valuation of the domestic energy sector.
-This will continue for some time as the Russians are attempting to economically squeeze the American shale producers and the Saudis are caught in the middle and do not want to further cede market share to Russia or the US.

-Technically the market generally has been looking for a reason to reset after the longest bull market in history.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
-There is really NO systemic risk. No one is even talking about that. Governments are intervening in the markets to stabilize them, and the private banking sector is very well capitalized. 
-In particular, for the U.S., even though quarantines and shut downs can certainly do recessionary damage stateside, thank God we live where we do – the US Govt is extraordinarily well-equipped / well-capitalized to respond with monetary and fiscal policy to bridge us through this… 
-In sum, this feels more like a 9/11 shock than it does like a 2008 parting of the earth.
 
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR LINX AND YOU?
-I am offering prospect meet and greets, as well as new client meetings for the next few weeks via Zoom!
– Zoom is super easy to download, free, and user friendly (trust me – I am a total dinosaur with technology). We can easily discuss working together and how the Linx ladies can get started on your search to “build your dating pipeline” now. 
-In my opinion, this is THE time to allow us to get started with our recruitment, exploration of prospects and clients in our database, and research on your behalf.  
I am finding that people are even more eager to want to find LOVE NOW and meet their dream partner – especially once this current “shock” is past us.
-Linx contracts are 24 months, which is standard with any membership. 24 months allows you sufficient time to slowly date each candidate, not to rush, and to see if there is long-term merit.
-Once you’re on-boarded, no matter what climate we are in, it takes time for my staff to begin to develop your pipeline of introductions. This is not about rushing the process, but rather about carefully curated matchmaking that adheres to the philosophy of quality over quantity.  
-Once we start lining up candidates for you to meet, you can get the ball rolling and meet matches via tech like Zoom or FaceTime. This is what making dating a PRIORITY means.
– This is seizing the moment, not letting your fears swallow you up, and not hitting pause on finding your match.
– You’re being smart and executing a dating strategy, even during a pandemic, that will pay dividends in the future.
– I wish everyone good health and comfort during these challenging times.  Remember to laugh and love.  We will get through this together. Stay connected and remember love is not on lockdown! 
Warmly,
Amy Andersen
Founder & CEO
Linx Dating LLC
Are you linked? 

Two hearts

 
 

5 Questions to ask your prospective matchmaker when choosing which firm to work with:

1. How did you get into matchmaking – why do you do what you do?
2. How, and from where, do you source potential matches as “leads” and what is your subsequent vetting process?  In other words, what is the “secret sauce?”
3. Are my ideal match criteria realistic and do you honestly feel that you have high quality candidates for me in your existing database or would you need to source outside the current database?
4. At what point does a “match” become “official?” May I veto potential matches or do you unilaterally make that call?
5. Tell me about a recent success story of yours and why you matched that particular couple.

Linx in Las Vegas

 

We just returned from a quick recruiting trip to Las Vegas to scout singles for our dreamy VIP clients. The goal was to enter a target rich environment and increase the odds of meeting sophisticated and well-educated individuals who might very well be single.

We met handsome plastic surgeons from around the world but most of the folks attending were from Toronto and Los Angeles. We has fun approaching people all day long and even got to learn about the latest in rhinoplasty, aesthetic facial surgery techniques, injectables and much more.

The upshot is we didn’t stop networking and as such, made some fantastic connections we will be following up over this next week. I think we found a total “needle in a haystack” match candidate for our OC VIP and two very strong match candidates for our Beverly Hills VIP.

On a very exciting and separate note, we just got the word via text message that one of darling couples JUST got engaged this weekend. As I have predicted, 2019 is SUCH a massive year with countless Linx couples getting engaged and saying “I Do!” I am so extremely blessed and very grateful to change so many lives for the better.

We love to help bring our clients so many steps closer to finding true love. As Tolstoy said: “there is only one time that is important – Now!”

What are you waiting for? If you want to meet individuals that are the “real deal”, I encourage you to email me today.

 

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Friends with an ex: Worth the time or time to move on?

 

iStock_000042224340_Small.jpgAfter sharing love and a life together, severing all contact with an ex sounds like a harsh outcome to say the least, but is maintaining ties with an ex worthwhile? Traditional advice seems to support “clean breaks” and “moving on”, but is there something to be said for pursing friendship in lieu of separation?

 

Is friendship with an ex even possible?

 

According to The Journal of Social Psychology, friendship after a breakup is more likely if you and your ex were friends prior to the relationship.; the transition is easier if both parties have experience in the platonic realm. Conversely, if sparks flew shortly after meeting, you stand to endure more pain and awkwardness as the romance falls away.

 

The nature of the breakup will also impact the opportunity for friendship. Naturally, break ups that included heated endings—arguments, cheating, or any sort of perceived hostility—jeopardize chances of friendship. However, if the dumper used “de-escalation” tactics—or slowly started pulling away, the ex-partner has time to adjust and consider an alternative dynamic.

 

Why stay friends?

 

If you do decide to remain friends, have an honest conversation with yourself about your motivations. According to a research study published in the Journal of Personality and Individual Differences, your desire to remain friends after the relationship probably falls under one of the following reasons:

 

Reliability/sentimentality: your ex “gets you” and you can count on him or her to have your back.

 

Pragmatism: your ex makes your life easier. Your ex has resources you want—connections to business prospects, money, or skills you need.

 

Continued romantic attraction: You’re still in love.

 

Children and shared resources: Joint loans, kids, mortgages, etc. are obligations that make severing contact difficult if not impossible.

 

Diminished romantic attraction: Although the passion has waned, you still share an emotional connection.

 

Social relationship maintenance:You have similar friend groups or family friends.

 

Sexual access: Maintaining enough connectivity to ensure sexual opportunities or, simply, a friends with benefits situation.

 

Although reliability was the prevailing reason for friendship among both women and men, men were more likely to rate pragmatism and sexual access higher than women.

 

If you are pushing for friendship, be sure it’s friendship you’re actually looking for. To get your answer, ask yourself the following:

  • Are you scared to lose support, advice, and comfort?
  • Are you trying to avoid grief?
  • Do you want the benefits of partnership (i.e. sex) without a formalized commitment?

 

If you’ve answered “yes” to any of these questions, you might be more interested in filling a void than pursuing a true friendship. If you find yourself pursuing contact for these reasons, the pain and stress of the breakup are probably encouraging some unhealthy rollercoaster emotions.

 

Using friendship as a crutch while your relationship dies will prolong the agony of heartbreak. The sooner you cut ties and take time for yourself—on your own—the sooner you may have an opportunity to pursue friendship.

 

What does creating space for friendship with an ex look like?

 

Firstly—and this may sound dramatic—defriend your ex on Facebook. According to research that appears in the Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, monitoring an ex on Facebook “exacerbates feelings of distress…and increases feelings of sexual desire and longing for an ex partner.” Although people who de-friended exes still experienced some setbacks in personal growth during their breakup, ultimately they reported less negative feelings than their stalker counterparts.

 

Instead of focusing on the friendship with an ex, you might find more value in revisiting your platonic relationships. The Journal of Social and Personal Relationships revealed that cross-sex friends who have always been platonic offer more satisfaction than cross-sex friends who have been lovers. Without sexual attraction or a need to get more serious, platonic friends share a pure connection.

 

Regardless of what you decide, give yourself—and your ex—and opportunity to adjust to the being single. If you do decide to pursue friendship, realize that the strong emotional connection you continue to share could complicate—at best—or preclude—at worst—your chances of establishing a new, totally fulfilling relationship.