Getting back into the mix after 25 years..

Hey all, 45m here. Currently going through the process of divorce in a marriage that has been over for some time now. (long story short, dead bedroom, almost no common interests. We are a few months away from having all debt minus the house and one car paid off and then we are filing)

I'm nowhere close to ready to date, but at the same time am very anxious to move on. After 25 years with this person, I've realized attraction for me isn't about looks or body type as much as the connection we have. Looking back, anyone I dated prior to and including my future ex was someone I knew fairly well in almost every case. It was easy back then, high school and college were melting pots of meeting and getting to know new people. Every girl I dated was a friend first, or at least someone I spent time with either in a group project or from the same friend group. These days I don't have a "circle" of friends, I just have home and work, and the occasional hang out with the two or three guys I actually know. We are a bunch of introverts so hanging out for us is playing board games and watching movies. We don't traditionally "go out." I'm not even sure where to start in terms of meeting women at a social level.

My question for the men and women out there is actually two questions. First, anyone else out there know this about themselves, that you prefer to get to know someone before you date them? Second, what's a good approach to letting someone know you are interested in getting to know them without necessarily dating them? This is especially sensitive to approaching someone at work without making it weird.