A woman who’d ‘lost trust in love’ has finally had her first kiss at 32.
After an experience with unrequited love in her early 20s, Allora Campbell only recently started dating.
But she’s not ashamed of being a ‘late bloomer’ – quite the opposite. She wants people to know it’s never too late.
Allora, a marketer, from Rochester, New York, US, said: ‘I’m 32, and I had never been kissed or been on a date until last month.
‘I presumed that women were meant to be pursued or some sort of meet-cute would happen.
‘But that never happened to me. I thought there must be something wrong with me.
‘Instead of taking the narrative into my own hands I just put all my energy into my career and travel.
‘I felt like I had wasted 15 years coming to terms with it.
‘During the gap between Christmas and New Year, I was snuggling my dog and I just thought, “if you do nothing, nothing will change”.
‘I love my life, but I wanted to try dating.
‘My goal was just to get out on dates and feel comfortable enough to do so.’
Allora said that growing up, she expected to meet a ‘prince’.
She said: ‘I was crippled by a gender role. The prince to princess.
‘When it didn’t happen, I did a lot of second-guessing.
‘I’d question, “Am I good enough?”
‘I’d download a dating app once a year, have bad experiences with creeps and delete it without going on dates.’
Allora described what was holding her back before as ‘self-sabotage’.
She said: ‘I spent so many years worrying about what people would think about me.
‘It was self-sabotage.
‘I downloaded the dating apps and decided to try for January. I didn’t really expect anything, but I ended up with a connection with a guy and have been on four dates.
‘I was terrified for the first date. I sang “I have confidence” from The Sound of Music for my entire drive.
‘He was so cool about me not being kissed or having been on any dates.
‘He’s been really respectful. I had my first kiss, and it was really sweet.’
Allora had previously been fairly secretive about the fact she’d never been on a date, but she decided to take the plunge and share her truth on social media.
She was surprised to find that many people had similar experiences and reached out to support her.
‘I thought I was the only person in the world going through this,’ she said.
‘It feels like you’re carrying a deep dark secret. It made me braver saying it out loud.
‘I could always deflect any dating questions, so no one ever really knew before.
‘It’s not something I’m embarrassed about anymore.’
Now, Allora wants to spread the word that it’s never too late to put yourself out there.
She said: ‘There’s no timeline. Life is a marathon, not a sprint. There is nothing wrong with coming to dating or romance at a later stage.’
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