“We would be together and have our books and at night be warm in
bed together with the windows open and the stars bright.” - Ernest Hemingway
Being in a relationship is tricky. Anyone who has been in or is currently in a long term partnership right now can tell you that in every relationship, things alter and change over time. And you know those subtle nuances in a relationship that seemed insignificant at first? Well, eventually everything gets magnified once the honeymoon phase is over. Which can sometimes pose as a challenge for couples. Because there will be days when even the way your partner chews their food can slightly agitate you. And this is where shared interests and compatibility between two people comes into play. There is a common misconception that compatibility equates to being with somebody that is an almost exact replica of you. Sort of dating yourself, but just the opposite sex. But relationships are a multi-faceted, balancing act. Whether it be interests, hobbies, personality etc. A little too much of anything is never a good thing. Two extroverts who like to go bar-hopping and meeting new people may eventually have trust issues in the long run. In the same vein, two introverted homebodies who have shared interests in video games may not last if they don’t know how to communicate with each other at home. Shared interests does not usually guarantee compatibility between two people.
And why am I talking about compatibility? Well nobody embodied compatibility more than Marielle and Matthew. And although the two just got hitched recently, after spending a day hanging out with them, they clearly appeared more like childhood best friends than newlyweds. Which does not even come as a surprise, since Marielle and Matthew have known each other since they were 12 years old. So that’s 20+ years of going through different stages in their lives, and witnessing first hand the evolving phases of love and friendship. Charles Bukowski, a German-American poet once had to say this: “The problem is, we look for someone to grow old together, while the secret is to find someone to stay a child with!” So simply put, compatibility is not about being able to share every hobby, interest and being able to spend every second of your life with one person. It’s all of those things plus still having a healthy respect for each others wants and needs. Because at the end of the day, we don’t really need to find that someone who loves to read the same books as we do, we just need to find someone who we can read books with.
Enjoy the photos!
