Giving the love principles a real shot
Last month I stumbled on this “make love last longer” article feeling kinda skeptical but hopeful. My girl Sarah and me kept having the same dumb fights about dishes and texting habits. Figured why not test-drive these five things properly?
The experiment kicks off
First up was listening without fixing. Normally when Sarah vented about work, I’d jump straight to solutions mode. Tuesday night I shut my trap, just nodded while she talked about her nightmare client. Barely made it 5 minutes before wanting to suggest solutions. Felt unnatural but she hugged me after saying “you just get it now”.
Next principle was creating stupid little traditions. Decided to reboot Sunday pancake breakfast we ditched during lockdown. Grabbed flour at 7am looking like a zombie. Burnt the first batch but Sarah laughed her ass off taking pics. The maple syrup mess on my shirt felt like old times.
When things got uncomfortable
The article said fight naked which sounded bonkers. Tried it when arguing about vacation plans. Couldn’t stay mad with both of us butt-ass naked arguing about flight tickets. Ended up cracking up when the cat walked in judging us. Key lesson: vulnerability disarms anger.
Biggest hurdle was planned apologies. Set Thursday nights to say “sorry for…” stuff we’d normally brush under the rug. My turn came and I choked out “sorry for mocking your reality shows”. She cried then admitted she hates my gaming streams. Brutal but needed.
The pay-off
Month later our secret weapons are:
- Monday check-ins over cheap wine
- Texting inside jokes daily
- That damn naked fighting rule
Caught Sarah last week showing her sister the burnt pancake pic. She rolled her eyes saying “dumb experiments actually work”. Still feel like we’re hacking the system sometimes, but hell, I’ll take it. Even washed my damn cereal bowl this morning without being asked.
