Author Archives: Katrina Robinson

Someone called remarriage “the triumph of hope over experience”. I see it as the triumph of hope AND experience. A tangible sign of grace in the possibility of being granted new chances, especially if the thought of dating after loss seems overwhelming. As CS Lewis said of his own late marriage, “I never expected to have in my sixties the happiness that passed me by in my twenties.” But considering dating, starting a new relationship, and eventually creating a new marriage after a divorce or bereavement has its complications, and here are some issues worth reflecting on.

“Couples don’t need to have anything in common,” said a male character in a novel I read recently. “The man can go to his club in the evenings while the woman knits or watches television.” Contrast this with a real-life couple I read about who made a vow they would only have interests or friends or pastimes they both enjoyed. If one of them didn’t like whatever it was, the other would immediately give it up in case it interfered with their love. The first example gave me a good laugh and the second gave me claustrophobia. It also got me wondering: is having the same tastes as your partner relevant when it comes to relationships? What should you do about dating with different interests?

I was so looking forward to my date that evening. Over the past few weeks we had spent some enjoyable times together. We shared a faith and had bonded over our separate experiences of going through unwanted divorces. People were starting to treat us as ‘a couple’. But the minute I saw his face that evening I knew he was going to split up with me, and he did. It had been a shortish relationship yet the disappointment I felt was real. But I learned you can do yourself a massive favour at this point by accepting that disappointments are a natural part of life, including your date-life, and then turn them into something that actually helps you. Here’s what might help the process of dating after disappointment.

Do you ever find yourself in a dating dilemma? Going over and over in your head what’s going on in your heart? Perhaps you feel stuck? Maybe sometimes you even feel like giving up? I know I did. During my single years I was truly grateful for people who supported me in different ways. Each one of them brought fresh insight and a sense of encouragement when I needed it. I call them an intentional supportive community and I recommend them to anyone looking to meet someone special.

We have the recent rise in video-calling for work, family and leisure to thank for the fact that we are now able to catch a glimpse of ourselves and how others might see us. How does this apply to dating? It’s the perfect opportunity to reflect on how we present ourselves and what makes great dating body language, especially when meeting for the first time. How can our body language help us come across positively?

I remember the day I went on my first date in fifteen years. Could this thing called internet dating possibly hold any potential for me when it came to meeting someone special to share my life with? I now know the answer was Yes. This date was the first of quite a few before I met my husband, and along the way I picked up some ideas for handling them so they felt natural, not an ordeal. This definitely helped when I met the man I married so here are tips for before, during, and after meeting someone new, so you can have a great first date.

So, you’d like to meet someone with faith, someone you could come to love and maybe, just maybe, share your life with? Congratulations and welcome to a life-changing journey! Like any journey, physical or emotional, it’s vital to look after yourself along the way. The key to this? Be gentle with yourself. It’s a great way of balancing your emotions and inner resilience. If you’re wondering what gentleness with yourself looks like in practice when you’re dating, here are some simple but effective ideas.

As an online dating newbie a few years back I can well remember the mixture of emotions that followed upon posting my first online profile. There was the initial flurry of excitement at reaching out and trying something which I knew had huge potential to help me meet a life-partner. But there was also the uncertainty and hesitancy summed up by the thought, “What if nobody seems interested?” Well, someone was interested and we’ve now been married for six years! But in the time leading up to this connection, sometimes that nagging feeling would come back to haunt me and so it was important to find ways of dealing with it and getting past it. If you’re wondering how to get beyond that feeling and move forward, read on…