Are You Worried About Your Romance During The Pandemic?

Do these 3 things and keep it alive.

Many people are facing lockdowns in their city these days, and we are no exception. Going out, except for grocery shopping and going to the pharmacy are strictly forbidden in our city. The numbers of infections are skyrocketing, people are dying, and nobody could tell where all of this is going or when it might end. Life is too uncertain, and every aspect of life which seemed certain before has become merely unpredictable. And this has been the end of romance for many relationships…

Right before all of this happened, Jonte & I started dating and were a stranger in many ways. Yet, we were keen to get to know each other despite everything that has been happening outside. We are now sitting here together and hoping to share a few ideas that worked very well for us and continue to help us during these difficult and unusual times.

Maybe you are also in a romantic relationship with a partner and face challenges?

Perhaps you are finding it challenging to keep the momentum in your relationship. Maybe, you are looking for ways on how to make your relationship flourish?

Just imagine your relationship becoming the best version possible despite the current circumstances and hardships. We are hoping that these simple steps will help you with your romance, the same way it did for us.

1. Sit Down and Reminisce Together

Sitting together and remembering the last hike you made together, good food you enjoyed, friends you met, movies you watched, can have a strong bonding effect. Delara would get out her phone once in a while and go through photos she has taken on random occasions, and we would have a good laugh about good times.

Looking back at the “good ol´times” can bring happy memories, make you laugh, and make you remember just how far you two have come together over the months or years.

Maybe you are wondering how you can reinvigorate your relationship, how to deepen your bond, or simply remember how you can enjoy each other again?

It is no secret that we, as humans, feel a lot of joy remembering good memories and get in touch with each other again on a deeper level by sharing those.

Perhaps you are wondering how to get back into a positive state with your partner and what are some of the ways that you can use your happy memories for your relationship.

Here are a few suggestions which we have noticed to be extremely helpful:

If your relationship is relatively new:

• Think back to those initial flirty text conversations,
• Your first few days, or funny moments that might have occurred when meeting each other’s families or friends.

If you’re in a more established relationship:

• Go ahead and crack open an old photo album or your Facebook photo reel.
• Look through old cards or mementos.
• Listen to songs which you both used to dance to or enjoyed listening to
• or simply sit face to face recalling hilarious or heartwarming memories.

2. Plan Full-Blown Date Nights

The day the lockdown was announced, we were planning to go out for a special dinner at a high-end restaurant. We wanted to celebrate an important milestone in Delara´s career and have some quality time after an intense time at work. The visit to the restaurant did not happen. At first, I was very disappointed, and I almost gave up on the idea of a special celebration. But why let the virus come in our way, I thought. Supermarkets were open, and luckily I was able to get a good bottle of wine, candles, some shrimps, Hummus, and some other ingredients for a delicious dinner. I snuck into her kitchen and prepared the food, set the table, and waited for her to come home. From the moment the door opened, the evening became a complete success and went on long beyond dinner.

With Covid, planning any events and dates have become so much more complicated than before. But going on dates and having a romantic time together does not need to stop just because there are lockdown or corona restrictions.

Wouldn’t you want to give your partner the feeling of being appreciated and loved despite all the limitations coming with the lockdown? Wouldn’t you want to be able to connect on a deeper level and have better romance?

Having quality time with your partner during such stressful times is even more critical than ever. Everyone enjoys the special nights out together, and everyone likes to make new and exciting memories. Those times create strong bonds.

We’re spending quantity time with our partners through the coronavirus pandemic, but also make sure you’re taking moments to spend quality time together.

You may have dinner every night with your partner while staying in, but date night is about connecting and escaping life stressors.

The kicker on this is that, of course, date night could still be within the same four walls non-date nights take place, so it will take some creativity to change the setup.

Maybe that means transforming the dining room into a white-linen, candlelit space, pushing the furniture out of the living room to create a dance floor, or setting up an indoor picnic complete with a basket and checkered blanket.

Movie nights are OK, but also make sure you’re planning events where you can truly engage.

Whatever your date night might entail, try to focus conversations on each other and to do your best to avoid talking about the virus, fears, money, atrocities in the world, etc. There are times and a place for those conversations (you can even proactively allocate time to discuss these topics) but the purpose of date night is to fall into each other.

3. Food

I was shy in the beginning to cook for Delara. I was not sure if she would like my cooking, or whether she would even be ok for me to use her kitchen at all and of course if my first attempt would turn out as expected or if I would embarrass myself! Despite all those concerns, I gave it a try and cooked a simple Indian dish for her. We not only had a proper dinner but also discovered our shared taste for Eastern food and cooking together. Over the following weeks, we alternatively cooked a variety of dishes from Japan, the Middle-East, India, Thailand, and many other places. Some turned out better than others, but it was more the shared experience that brought us closer to each other.

It might seem a little basic, but cooking and eating your favourite foods, or trying out new recipes can make you appreciate each other on a whole different level. How many times did you eat without really tasting and enjoying each bite together?

Wouldn’t you want to bring a whole new dimension to your relationship by sharing a sensual activity like enjoying delicious food together?

Experience shows that the more senses you involve in your shared experiences, the more meaningful your relationship can become.

The two of you are capable of experiencing a whole variety of senses, of which taste is one of the most intense and pleasant ones. Sharing the pleasure of a delicious meal will take your romance to a whole new level.

We have a few thoughts on this. For example:

• If you decide to have a picnic, and if you have a garden and the weather for it, you’re sorted, but the picnic date idea is transferable to balconies, living room floors, or even the bed!
• Challenge your partner to a cook-off with random pantry ingredients! The beauty of this time together is that it doesn’t have to look fancy, it doesn’t have to cost a lot of money, yet it can still be a great intimate and romantic time together.
• If you have a few random cupboard supplies to spare, blindly select your ingredients and assign a time limit on each other to make something edible. This game can be adapted to suit what you have in storage and cooking ability.