Interesting! I think I understand what you are saying, but I can’t figure out how to do this since I cannot access the .htaccess file in my wordpress.com site. Am I understanding the process correctly?
How do I actually set up the 301 redirects from https://www.quietpilgrim.wordpress.com to https://www.quietpilgrim.com?
I see that once these redirects are in place I can submit a change of address in Google’s search console, but I’m not familiar with how to actually implement these 301 redirects. Any simple way to explain this? Much appreciated!