Here's my July 17th, 2026 vlog from my studio — this is what it looks like when I'm facing it. Wow. I just had the most incredible date last night, and it's amazing how much has shifted in my life in just — man, what is it — Friday since Monday. Yesterday I went to work and made this amazing Ethereum presentation, and then I met up with a woman I met at yoga, the one I talked about yesterday. I shared all the details behind that on my Jerry Banfield dating channel. I met up with her last night. She lives walking distance from my house, and we had the most incredible date and conversation.
I was so excited and nervous on the way there. And after talking with her for two hours, about halfway back to my house from her house, I sat down on a bench and cried with gratitude. I was just saying, thank you. This match with her is so incredible. We both seem to be perfectly created for each other at this time in our lives. It's been kind of scary to be this excited about someone I've just met four days ago. But at the same time, I'm not new to this planet or to dating. I've met enough women and had enough time in relationships that when I see her, see how I feel, and hear what she has to say, I can trust it. I told her straight out: we're extremely compatible with each other. It's nuts. Everything you're looking for, I have to offer.
Matching Her Faith
The one area where there was a little bit of a lack of alignment is that she told me her faith is really important to her. When I first met her, I had made some jokes that kind of went against that. So I told her, look, that's not who I am — my faith is very flexible. I'm very God-conscious and connected, but I can express that through any particular religion and focus in on it. So I pulled the Bible up online and started reading some of it, because that's important to her. That's an area where I'm flexible. I can happily match her in her faith because I already live that way — I already live a faith-based life. And if she'd like to express it together through Christianity, that's how I was raised, and I'm very comfortable doing that. I'll put the effort in to make sure I'm ready to join her, and I'm happy to go to church. I told her, I just want to spend as much time with you as possible. I'm going to go to church.
An Instant Date, a Second Date, and Choosing Her
I was nervous before the date because I knew something had to be said. I had a Tawkify matchmaking date scheduled — two hours from now as I'm recording this. I figured, okay, if I'm her, what would she most want to know about me right now, at this point in meeting me? I knew I needed to talk to her about that. I had this other date planned, and there were other women I'd been on multiple dates with that I'd been working on planning more dates with. But at the same time, we'd literally just met three days ago — you can't be bringing that up at the very beginning of what could be the first or the second date.
So I was messing with her about it: is this the first or the second date? Because I call the first time we met an instant date. We talked for almost an hour and exchanged numbers. In dating terms, that's an instant date — you just had a first date, basically right there on the spot. So this felt very much like a second date. And I set my intention walking up before I met her: I'm going to listen to her. I'm going to connect with her. Please, God, let me put aside everything I think I know about women — you have it there if needed — and give this woman a fresh chance, open my heart up all the way to her. And wow, it just felt so good being with her, walking around with her, talking to her.
After about an hour of listening very carefully to her, I realized this was the time to bring it up: look, I am talking to other women, and I'm willing to stop talking to them. If you would like to go forward and just focus on each other, I'm willing to stop talking to them. I was so nervous bringing that up, but I could just tell it was the right point in the conversation, the moment that would escalate our date to the next level. She seemed very interested in me, and I'm very interested in her. It's like, okay, are we going to make a thing of this? Take this seriously — not too seriously, no labels or anything — but we're very interested in each other, so let's not get distracted.
I brought it up, and she was sweet about it. The way she put it, she didn't want to tell me what to do, which I really respect. But the way she said it, it sounded like she would really appreciate me not having dates scheduled with other women, and making it clear that I'm choosing her and I'm very interested in her. She wasn't dating anybody else, which made it easy for her. And that surprised me — she's so beautiful, she could easily have all kinds of dudes she could be going out with from dating apps. But that doesn't work very well, because you spend all this time messaging on a dating app and then there's no chemistry in person. It's a big letdown. So I told her I'll cancel my date tomorrow, and any of the other women that message me, I'll let them know: look, I'm seeing someone now, thank you, I'm not available for another date. And that felt really good.
Holding Hands Like a High School Date
We had a nice conversation about how to progress from here. I'm obviously trying to balance a very personal vlog without telling all of her story too. But one important thing to share is how we're progressing. I said, I'm happy just holding hands. I'm happy taking things as slow as you want to take them, and I encourage you to lead the way in advancing past holding hands. So we held hands and walked around, and it was so beautiful and sweet. It felt like a high school date.
One transition point where we started talking about all this is when she asked what my last dating video was about. I felt so vulnerable, because my last dating video on Jerry Banfield dating was titled "I have a date tonight and I feel 17 again." So I explained the basic idea to her: I was so grateful to have gone on this journey from dating as a teenager — just open-hearted and excited — to going through the process of dating so much that you get bitter, closed-hearted, and stuck in your head. And with her, this amazing thing had happened where I got out of my head, opened my heart, and felt like I was a kid dating again. It was so nice. And I'm so proud of her, because she's had a similar experience with me.
I walked her back to her house, and we planned our next date: we're going to play tennis, which I'm so excited about. There's a good chance she might be able to beat me — I'm a 3.5 tennis player, and she seems pretty good. She is so strong, too. I love it. It just feels so nice to be on the same page, to be wanted and chosen by someone else, to have that mutual attraction. I'm just so emotional and open now, and so grateful. This is what being fully, authentically me really feels like. After I walked home from the date, I sat down about halfway through the park and just cried. I filled my whole hanky up. I was just saying thank you — to the universe, to God, to her, to everybody else that's helped me on this journey. Thank you. This is so amazing. All these dates I went on, all these women I met, and wow — this one just feels so perfect.
Crying With My Mom About Second Chances
Then I just had the desire to see my mom after this. Go figure — I go on an amazing date and I'm like, I've got to see my mom. I think that's pretty healthy, right? So I went over to see my mom. She was excited, but she was also encouraging some skepticism. I told her, I understand, mom. But remember — and I cried a little bit with my mom — remember how good it felt to get a second chance yourself? After my mom got divorced from an abusive, bad first marriage, it was rough. Her parents really liked the guy, and she had realized it was a bad situation a few days before the wedding, but she kind of felt stuck. It was a rough divorce for her — her parents were really upset, even though it was an awful marriage. And I said, remember how grateful you were, mom, to have that love again with dad? That was huge. That's what I'm feeling here. After getting divorced last year, I have that opportunity again, and I'm not going to be scared of getting hurt. I'm going to go in as if everything's going to work. And if I get crushed one way or another, I'll accept that.
I'd Rather Get Crushed by Love 50 Times
Here's what I told her on the date, too. Some podcast made a video about me, and some of their viewers have been talking junk on my dating channel about how I shouldn't be telling anyone about dating — all these hater comments. Honestly, I'd rather have haters than nobody knowing about my videos, and they've definitely directed some viewers over my way, so I appreciate it. And I told the woman on the date: I would rather get crushed by love 50 times over the next decade than play it safe and withdraw, and have the haters look at me ten years from now saying, see, you couldn't fall in love again — look at you, you don't know anything. You know what? I'll risk it.
I'll risk getting hurt over and over again, because it only takes one time for everything to work, for it all to be worth it. Is this the time it's worth it? I am going to open my whole heart, go all in, and pray that it is. And if not, at least I will have loved and tried.
Kesha's Warrior Album at Full Volume Inside My Body
So I went to bed, and I cried some more last night. I've been listening to all these Kesha songs from her Warrior album — "Supernatural," "Out Alive." This Kesha Warrior album has just really been vibing with me. And that other song, "All That Matters (The Beautiful Life)." Dude, when I was walking home from this date — my hair is standing up saying this — it was like that one Kesha song, "Supernatural," where she sings about hearing the pounding of her heart, how this love is supernatural, can you feel it. It was like that song was on at full volume inside my body.
It reminded me of Seth, from Jane Roberts and Robert Butts — Seth Speaks. Seth talked about inner and outer sounds: how there are sounds from the outside, but there's also not just an inner monologue — there's an inner music being played inside your body all the time. And man, I could feel that just walking home from the date. Hearing that song "Supernatural" at full volume inside my body — not a song stuck in my head, but the whole body playing it. I was just like, whoa, God, this is good.
The Perspective I Didn't Have 15 Years Ago
It reminded me of the second date with my ex-wife. When I went on the second date with my ex-wife, I'd been on a bunch of dates, and I didn't really know if anything was going to work out. I was excited, but I didn't have much perspective. I remember her walking up — we were at Channelside, 15 years ago — and she was so beautiful, and I was just like, yes. And then, as I was walking to meet the woman I'm dating now, I had that same feeling. I was like, holy shit — this is like that again. It feels the same, except this time — and I'm tearing up again — this time I've got the perspective of how amazing this is. It's so much better. I never thought I'd get to do this again. And I never want to have to do this again.
One thing I said on the date: I'm happy to take it slow with things like sex, because the next woman I have sex with, I want it to be the last. I don't ever want to get divorced again. I don't ever want to look for another relationship or date again. I better appreciate now where my mom's at, after dad passed away 12 years ago, not wanting to look for another relationship. My mom would like somebody, but at this point it's just too much. And me — I want to find somebody that I can really spend my life with.
Living Open-Hearted Is Where the Magic Starts
Dude, it's so nice to feel open-hearted. And this is what I want to help people with: if you can live more open-hearted like this, it just feels magical, and then magic just starts to happen. I remember three or four months ago, I felt like dating was so transactional. And now, the level of compatibility this woman and I have — it's like we're custom created for each other. I seem to have way more compatibility with her than I did with my ex. We share interests — we both like to play tennis and do yoga, and she's also a content creator. My ex and I had some compatibility, but she often said we're not that compatible, and I realize now, yeah, we weren't. But this woman — oh my God, we are so compatible. I hope to get her involved one day in doing some videos with me, and to help her get her own YouTube channel started. Maybe she could bring people into the Jerry Banfield Family too, and we could all work together. I bet some of y'all would definitely pay to talk to her — wouldn't you, if things worked out with her? Some of y'all would pay to talk to her and ask her about me and get her perspective.
Canceling My Matchmaker: I Don't Want Options
Then I woke up this morning. There was a long thunderstorm last night that kept me up for hours — and she said she had a hard time sleeping too, which is unusual for her. I woke up and said, all right, I've got to contact my matchmaker this morning and tell her that I'm canceling this date. I had a date lined up, but I just don't feel right going out, or pretending that I'm interested in any other woman right now. I don't want options. I want one woman, where we're both each other's first option. I don't need any other options.
So I sent this beautiful email to my matchmaker. I used ChatGPT for it — I told it, just organize this, don't change the tone or anything, just organize it. And in that email I explained to her that every single woman she matched me with helped me be perfectly prepared for when this woman came along. I cried writing that email, because it was so beautiful. I just wanted my matchmaker to know that even though I'm not dating someone she matched me with, every woman she matched me with was essential on my journey, and her work was so meaningful for my dating life. Maybe on the dating channel I'll do a more detailed inventory — put a video up of how each of my matches helped me get super clear, so that when I meet a woman in person, I've got all that information, all that practice. I'm ready to make a really amazing first impression, and I'm ready to trust my intuition.
At some point she asked me, well, how many women have you been out with this year? I said at least 10, maybe 15 women that I've been on at least first dates with, and lots more women that I haven't been on formal dates with, but where we've had first-date-ish, instant-date kind of experiences. After every one of those, I just didn't feel that depth of feeling. But the day after I met this woman, I woke up sobbing. How I feel here is a depth that is so rare for me to feel, and I want to just keep feeling that.
I texted Blockchain Pill, and he asked, hey, how'd the date go? I said, so amazing. He said, I'm so excited to watch the video. So that's where things stand: I emailed my matchmaker, and I canceled the match. I'm so excited to tell you how things went tomorrow — and if you want to follow this whole journey date by date, it's all on my Dating playlist.
Oh, and join the Jerry Banfield Family.
And then I was just thinking: thank you to all these people — everyone in person, and all of you online who have cared about my journey. That this means something to you, that you're interested in my dates, that you're rooting for me — I feel it, and I just hope I can give that back. I'm so excited. I'm so grateful.