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What do you do when the love of your life turns out to be one of the worst people you’ve ever known?
Many shut down, cutting off aspects of their life. It’s a protective instinct while you heal.
For Angelina Jolie, who’s now reclaiming her fighting spirit with the emotional support of her (basically all adult) children, maybe it’s time to date again.
She’s now confirming that she hasn’t dated since her divorce — ten years ago.
‘I haven’t dated since I divorced a decade ago’
During an interview with Yahoo, primarily about her new film, Couture, Angelina discussed her dating history.
Or, since her split from Brad Pitt in late 2016, her lack thereof.
“To be candid, I haven’t dated since I divorced a decade ago,” Angelina shared.
“So I kind of get in my head that that aspect of me is not centered in my life if I’m focusing on my children, my family,” she explained.
However, she has very recently come to see that she can be a focused mother and date.
In Couture, Angelina portrays Maxine, who is a mother — having one daughter.
“It took me a second to kind of say, well, she can also love her daughter and be dedicated to her daughter and also need this as a woman and receive this as a woman,” she reasoned.
Sometimes, actors portray roles that help them to explore themselves as people.
This is not exclusive to the acting profession. Writers and other storytellers do this too, exploring character and not always leaving the experience unchanged.
This can be a dark experience for some. But, for Angelina, it has helped her to process her life and relationships.
‘It’s kind of reminding me what I may have lost’
“Maybe I’ve come around to being a little bit more the person I used to be,” Angelina said as she reflected upon being in her 50s.
“I’m discovering something now that my daughters are older,” she shared.
“They’re talking to me as young women,” Angelina detailed, “and I’m seeing what I want for them.”
She elaborated: “I’m seeing what I don’t want them to lose and what I want them to hold on to.”
Angelina admitted: “And it’s kind of reminding me what I may have lost.”
“I think in some way they’re bringing me back to my old self,” Angelina said in praise of her daughters.
“My desire for them to have all of the strength and openness and softness and faith and ferocity is reminding me,” she affirmed.
“I think they kind of want me now to not just be ‘Mom,’” Angelina explained.
She added: “There’s a different room for me to be that woman again, that’s not just a mom.”
There certainly is! One of the most beautiful women on the planet, who’s incredibly accomplished and famously good, doesn’t need to stop living aspects of her life after one awful man turned her world upside down.
