When you meet someone, fall in love, and decide to share the rest of your life with them, you begin to experience a profound transformation. Suddenly, many things in your life are duplicated. It’s no longer just about remembering your birthday or your family’s special days, but also those of the person you love: their birthday, their saint’s day, their family celebrations. Everything takes on a new dimension; it’s no longer just your close circle that matters, but theirs as well. The same goes for tastes, hobbies, and passions. What you may not even have known about before or were indifferent to, now begins to become part of your life.
In the book “Cooking with Leftovers… after the do” it is mentioned that, even if you have never heard the word falconry before if it is important to your favorite person, that activity becomes a fundamental part of your daily life, whether you like it or not. It is not an imposition, but an opportunity to connect on a deeper level. Hobbies, tastes, and passions are not simple distractions, but vital tools that help our partner to disconnect, relax, and manage daily stress. Therefore, we must learn to treat them as what they are: allies, not enemies.
Instead of seeing these activities as competition or a threat to the relationship, we must recognize that they also contribute to the emotional well-being of the person we love. It is not about going to war with football, shopping afternoons, falconry, or pilates, but about allying ourselves with them. If your partner has an important game, instead of complaining, make sure that there is no shortage of beers. If she wants to spend an afternoon shopping with her friends, you can offer to babysit or just enjoy some alone time.
These activities, however trivial they may seem, are essential to maintaining a relaxed and harmonious atmosphere at home. A home where everyone can freely enjoy what they like, without feeling judged or guilty. It’s about common sense, understanding and empathy, not turning hobbies into a cause of conflict or using them as a weapon in arguments. In the end, when you embrace your partner’s interests, you not only foster their well-being, but also your own, because a happy home is built on the foundation of respect, flexibility and mutual support.
Thus, true commitment is not just about sharing what we already like, but about making room for what is important to the other. It is an act of love that says: “What is important to you is also important to me.” Why not?
