At 40, a single woman's online dating Luck ?

How being divorced and a quadragaenarian is no barrier in the modern dating app world.

Have you ever been referred to as pulchritudinous? Well, I did, and it was on a dating app. And before you think it's a disease, let me clarify that it simply means beautiful. I can imagine a 20-something boy with that loft of hair on his head googling synonyms for "beautiful" or "pretty" in order to appear more mature to a woman much older than him.

Because that's me, dear readers: a single, divorced woman in her forties navigating the world of dating apps — okay, just one app, but you get the idea. I don't believe I can handle more than one at this time.

It all started with great reluctance. "I don't know if I am ready to date anyone yet" or "I am too old-fashioned for dating apps. "If I meet someone organically, that's another story," I'd tell friends who tried to persuade me to join one.

Of course, I'm not so "traditional" that I believe you can't date in your 40s or even much later. Many of my friends have found love later in life, and some have even settled down to enjoy marital bliss. But what about dating apps? That's a whole different ballgame.

Or so it appeared. It only took a long conversation on a lazy Saturday afternoon with a wiser and more experienced friend who told me to stop being so judgmental for me to download one of the apps she recommended. "If you don't like what you're seeing, you can always delete the app," she advised.

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Downloading the app and creating my profile was not as difficult as I had anticipated. There are several prompts that allow you to select the information about yourself that you want to share. It helps to hear the other person's voice, as I discovered later, and so there are voice prompts as well as videos you may want to share. For the time being, I was content with the standard text information.

For the main image, I chose one with a visible streak of grey in my hair — it's something I've never shied away from, so why should I now? I shared some nuggets of information on my profile, along with a couple of images, to give a better insight into my personality, ranging from my favourite travel memory to what a typical Sunday looks like for me.

I would never judge someone for dating someone their own age or younger. To each his or her own, I believe. The age filters assist you in narrowing it down to the age bracket you're interested in. But, based on the few interactions I've had in the last few days, age appears to have little to do with maturity. From being asked about my likes and dislikes in bed by someone in his late 40s — on the first day of chatting, mind you — to being told by another quadragenarian that I am a "triple threat" because of my "chubby cheeks, alluring smile, and beautiful eyes" — some of the comments have left me laughing and facepalming at the same time. I'd be lying if I didn't admit that some of the comments made me blush. If I ever need an ego boost, I know exactly where to look — that's all I'm saying!

On the other hand, there are some insightful conversations with men who are thinking about more than just sex. There are things you bond over just like you would if you met someone new in a club or a coffee shop in real life: theatre, food, books, travel, movies, music.

You are not required to enter into a romantic relationship with any of them, but it is comforting to know that there are so many others out there who are looking to connect with you. Men who are divorced, single, single parents or co-parenting, and even some married men — I don't want to compare men to fish, but you get the idea.

And guess what, and now comes the exciting part. Dating as a single woman in her forties can also be an adventure. Forget about what you want; you know exactly what you don't want. The red flags can be seen from a mile away!

Staying alone and single also implies that you've discovered your mojo in your daily routine. Do I really want to stay up all night chatting with someone when I could just lie in bed with a glass of wine and watch Netflix? Not yet, and until I do — and it's perfectly fine if I don't — it's just nice to enjoy the process. As my wise friend pointed out, there's something special about finding new hope in your middle age.