Dinner is penne pasta with Bolognese made from ground turkey, onions, and a bit of Italian seasoning.

21M, was dating someone for 7 years since we were both 14. Navigated COVID, 4 years of long-distance, and countless issues only for her to completely disconnect and detach from the relationship my last quarter of college. I did everything I could to keep things alive and provide the support for us to survive until I got home, only for her to leave me the day I came home in early June.

I think I've gotten thru the initial fallout of the relationship, a lot of the closing months were so stressful that her leaving actually ended up taking some weight off of me. I don't think I'm ready for a relationship yet, but I don't even know where to start in looking for one. I've never really dated before since all of my mid-late teens were in a long-term relationship. On top of this, I've moved to a new city for my first post-grad job, which is nice because I'm away from my hometown(and her), but it means I have to build a new community from scratch.

I'm in therapy, I've gotten back into the gym and I'm trying to immerse myself in work and hobbies, but I do eventually want to be in a relationship again. I just have no idea what I'm doing. I'm pretty outgoing and friendly, and I've never had a problem making friends, and I believe I'm pretty respectful and caring, I just don't want to be burned like I was with this one. How have you guys navigated getting back into dating after a long-term relationship like this?

Relationship of 7 years ended, learning how to date/pursue relationships