Combining Your Interests with Your Partner
In yesterday's post, we talked about why we should take up a hobby. When we think of hobbies, what usually comes to mind are things we do on our own: crafts, making things, or tinkering and repair projects. If you have a hobby like this and the time you spend on your own keeps growing, it can create conflict at home. It's quite normal for your spouse to expect more attention, and not spending quality time together can weaken the dynamics of the relationship. That's why in today's post we decided to offer some suggestions for activities you can do together with your spouse. If you and your spouse already share a hobby, wonderful; but if you don't enjoy the same things, creating spaces and settings where you can do things you both enjoy while you're together is a shared responsibility.
So what can you do if you don't have similar interests?
By looking at where your interests overlap, you can think about how you might pursue two different hobbies at the same time and in the same place.
For example, if one partner loves walking and the other enjoys photography, you can combine your interests by taking photos while you walk, and learn to respect each other's interests along the way.
Another example is for hobbies done at home. By setting a shared hobby hour, you can each pursue your own hobby in the same room while chatting with each other.
If one partner loves vacationing at a 5-star hotel while the other prefers a holiday surrounded by nature, you can split the trip in two and take turns making each other happy.
Every person is different. In relationships, trying to be the same, or partners trying to change each other, harms the relationship even more. What strengthens a relationship and increases mutual satisfaction is partners learning, with understanding and respect, to spend good time together and becoming more flexible in different situations.
Malik Kubilay Çadırcıoğlu, Psychotherapist
