If you’re over 50 and spending any time in today’s dating scene—or even just warming up to the idea of dating again—I want to talk about something most people would rather avoid.

I want to talk about what doesn’t work.

If you’re back in the dating world after 50, you already know what’s changed. There are more options, more confusion, more false starts, and more ways to lose time with someone who was never really right for you.

What I want for you instead is clarity. Not eventually. Not after weeks of texting. And definitely not after you’re already emotionally invested.

Clarity by the third date.

If you’ve ever thought, “I don’t even know what I want anymore,” you’re not alone.

That moment usually comes after a lot of heartbreaks, compromises, and the quiet realization that your love life didn’t turn out the way you once imagined.

If dating feels like the same movie playing over and over—same type of person, same disappointment, same ending—you’re not imagining it.

And no, this is not because you’re “bad at dating.”  It’s not because the dating pool dried up. It’s not because you waited too long.

What’s actually happening is quieter—and much more solvable.

If you keep dating the same types of men… It’s not because you’re “bad at dating.” Even if you're in midlife or beyond, you haven't "missed your window." And as I say in my podcast "Love at Any Age", love has no expiration date.

If you’re thinking about dating again after a long time — or maybe you’re wondering whether you even want to try — I want to start by saying this: there is no expiration date on love.

You are not too late.

If finding love (or getting back out there) is going to make your New Year’s resolution list, this is your perfect moment. The holiday season will soon be over, and everyone’s in that new beginnings mindset.

Are you ready?

If you’re over 50 and thinking about dating again—whether it’s been a few months, or a few decades, or since your last heartbreak—it’s time to get intentional. No more winging it, hoping for chemistry, or letting the dating apps decide your fate. You get to do this your way: consciously, confidently, and with your whole self (head, heart, and hoo-ha included).

If you’re dating over 50 and wondering why it feels harder than ever to find your person, you’re not imagining it.
The dating landscape has changed — and so have we.

You’ve lived, loved, raised kids, maybe divorced, maybe lost a partner. You’ve learned a lot about yourself. But even the most self-aware among us can get tripped up by unrealistic expectations that sabotage love.

At the beginning of 2025, I promised myself I'd start my own podcast. I had rejected the idea of it in the past because it seemed like too much work, but THIS felt like the year!

In this season of thanks-giving, I am going to lay out an unpopular opinion:

Every choice in love you’ve made in the past has been in your best interest!

"What, Laurie?" You must be asking yourself if I’ve gone off the deep end.

In response to a recent article about reasons not to date common in women over 50, I received this comment:

“All valid points. What is holding me back is my weight (overweight now) and having been celibate for over 10 years, the thought of intimacy. My body has cellulite, rolls of fat, wrinkles, spots, etc.”

If you’ve dipped your toe into the modern world of dating apps, you’ve probably noticed they all have one thing in common — you have to work them if you want them to work for you.

Do the apps secretly rate your attractiveness? Are you being punished for swiping too much? And is there really a way to “beat the system”? 

Two of my three kids are grown, so I think I can safely say now that I wish they had taken a gap year between high school and college, or during college. At least they studied abroad.

The amount of worldly knowledge and independence they gained from studying abroad got me thinking about the corollary to dating after divorce.

For every woman in the 50+ age group who responds to one of my articles, hopeful about dating again, an equal number write back with a heavy sigh: “Never again. I’m done.”

If you’re a woman over 50 and haven’t done at least 7 of the 10 things I’ve listed below, you may be missing out on your “Main Character Era.”

I don’t mean get back together with the man you divorced.

I certainly don’t mean stay with someone who abuses you.

I mean, in early dating—even in texting. I mean, when something rubs you the wrong way and you’re ready to call it quits before chemistry has had a chance to develop.

I get this a lot as a dating coach: Women send me their online dating profile to analyze—as if I could tell them whether it’s “good” or “bad” without knowing them first.

That’s not how it works.

Once women are done complaining to me about how older men are only looking for younger women, they turn around and complain that they’ll end up being an older man’s nurse, purse, or, dreadfully, both!