--- title: How Paula Patton Stays Empowered After Divorcing Robin Thicke description: Two years after ending her 10-year relationship with Robin Thicke, actress Paula Patton says she's loving the single life. canonical: https://time.com/4364519/paula-patton-dating-happy/ author: Megan Lasher article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-10T18:28:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:02:42.933Z og:title: Actress Paula Patton on Life After Divorce: "It's Freeing" og:description: 'It's really nice, honestly, getting used to being alone' og:url: https://time.com/4364519/paula-patton-dating-happy/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8998217d1a24597a/698897522dce013afc9e96ba/paula-patton-robin-thicke-single.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 2015 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Graydon Carter - Arrivals og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Actress Paula Patton on Life After Divorce: "It's Freeing" twitter:description: 'It's really nice, honestly, getting used to being alone' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8998217d1a24597a/698897522dce013afc9e96ba/paula-patton-robin-thicke-single.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Actress Paula Patton on Life After Divorce: "It's Freeing" by [Megan Lasher](/author/megan-lasher/) ## Megan Lasher Jun 10, 2016 6:28 PM CUT  Paula Patton arrives at the 2015 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Graydon Carter at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 22, 2015 in Beverly Hills, California. Paula Patton arrives at the 2015 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Graydon Carter at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 22, 2015 in Beverly Hills, California.Anthony Harvey—Getty Images by [Megan Lasher](/author/megan-lasher/) ## Megan Lasher Jun 10, 2016 6:28 PM CUT More than a year after [her divorce with Robin Thicke](http://www.eonline.com/news/637031/robin-thicke-and-paula-patton-officially-divorced "undefined"), actress Paula Patton says she’s embracing single life. In a [video interview](http://www.essence.com/paula-patton-on-dating-again?xid=essence%5Fsocialflow%5Ffacebook "undefined") with _Essence,_ the [_Warcraft_](http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,21011550,00.html "undefined")star opened up about what it’s like dating as a single mom and explained that she’s found a sense of empowerment and freedom in the process. “It’s been fun and interesting and I’ve learned a lot about myself,” she told _Essence_. Because Patton had known Thicke since she was just 15, she explained that the transition has been “kind of strange”: “I have no idea what I’m doing, but it’s exciting, it’s so fun, I’m having a blast.” Patton said she’s had mixed emotions about the transition to being single. “It’s really nice, honestly, getting used to being alone,” she said. “It’s freeing, it’s scary at the beginning. It’s really scary. But it’s something I’m coming to embrace and knowing that that’s really what it is now: learning to love yourself, enjoying your time with your friends, your family and then it will sort itself out.” [_Follow Motto on Facebook._](https://www.facebook.com/mottoworkplaylive/ "undefined") She did, however, clarify the type of man she’d love to find once she’s ready to settle down with someone: “You know what the biggest thing is for me? Somebody who really likes to have fun,” she said. “I want a man, but I want a man that also wants to embrace his inner child. You know? Laugh. Have fun. Enjoy the moment. … I want to be happy. Life is too short.” Watch the full interview at [Essence.com](http://www.essence.com/paula-patton-on-dating-again?xid=essence%5Fsocialflow%5Ffacebook "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4364519/paula-patton-dating-happy/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4364519/paula-patton-dating-happy/"},"headline":"Actress Paula Patton on Life After Divorce: \"It's Freeing\"","datePublished":"2016-06-10T18:28:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:02:42.933Z","description":"\"It's really nice, honestly, getting used to being alone\"","url":"https://time.com/4364519/paula-patton-dating-happy/","keywords":["motto","News"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8998217d1a24597a/698897522dce013afc9e96ba/paula-patton-robin-thicke-single.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan Lasher","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-lasher/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8998217d1a24597a/698897522dce013afc9e96ba/paula-patton-robin-thicke-single.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2015 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Graydon Carter - Arrivals","caption":"Paula Patton arrives at the 2015 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Graydon Carter at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 22, 2015 in Beverly Hills, California.","creditText":"Anthony Harvey—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4364519/paula-patton-dating-happy/","name":"Actress Paula Patton on Life After Divorce: \"It's Freeing\""}}]}] ```