About The Divorce Happens Community
The Divorce Happens Community is a totally free, year-long space we built for anyone navigating divorceโand we could not be more excited about it. Whether you're bracing for it, in the thick of it, or years past it and still piecing together who you became, this is a place to actually feel understood. We built it because so much divorce content out there is logistics: lawyers, custody schedules, financial checklists. We wanted something differentโa place for the identity questions nobody prepares you for. Who am I now? What do I actually like? Why am I still so angry? Hosted on Substack, the community runs on monthly themes, each one a different facet of rebuilding a self after a marriage ends, and every single month is packed: journal prompts to dig into the theme, a giveaway, a Zoom hangout with Olivia, a Substack Live with special guests, ongoing Substack chats, and a steady stream of insight and writing to keep you company along the way. We're not interested in sugarcoating any of itโthe tone is gritty and honest, sometimes funny, always specific. This is a place to laugh, rage, cry, and rebuildโtogether.
Happening This Month
October's theme is "The Lie I Told Myself" โ the story you told yourself to survive the marriage, or to leave it, or to explain it to everyone else. It's one of the rawer themes on the calendar, and we're pairing it with author Heather Sweeney, whose memoir Camouflage digs into exactly this kind of self-deception and the slow work of seeing clearly again. Heather will contribute a piece to the community and join us for a live conversation, and we're also running a giveaway of Camouflage for members. Join Olivia for our October Zoom call on October 22nd, 8PM EST, where we'll dig into the month's journal questions and talk through where everyone's at. As with every month, the content leans into identity and emotion rather than logistics โ this isn't about the practical lies (finances, custody arrangements) but the internal ones: the stories we tell ourselves to keep going, to keep the peace, or to keep from admitting something was wrong long before it ended. October builds directly on September's momentum, moving from "this happened to me" into the murkier territory of "what did I do, or believe, to get here" โ setting up the self-honesty work that carries through the rest of the year.
Coming Up in November
Divorce doesn't just rearrange your life โ it rearranges your people. This November, the Divorce Happens Community is digging into "Who Showed Up," a theme about the friendships that surprised us, the ones that quietly disappeared, and everything in between.
Because here's the truth nobody prepares you for: divorce is a filter. Some people you thought would be there for anything vanish without a word. Others โ sometimes people you barely knew โ show up in ways you never expected. This month, we're naming both sides of that honestly, no sugarcoating.
We're thrilled to welcome two guest voices this month: D'IONNA, author of Finding Love After Divorce, and Jessica Lattif, founder of Not Working in Tech. Both will share their own stories of friendship, loss, and connection during divorce through featured posts and live conversations with our community.
Throughout November, members can expect journal prompts built around this theme, a personal essay, our weekly "Hey Olivia" advice column tackling real reader questions about shifting friend groups, and a community Zoom hang to connect with others navigating the same thing.
If you've ever wondered who your real people are โ or grieved the ones who weren't โ this month is for you.
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