Can Our Love Survive Our Differences?
1/5/20261 hr
They met dancing, and it was love at first sight. But only after they began dating did they realize the vast differences between them: differences in their core values, religious beliefs, political affiliations, sexual identities, and immigration statuses. And yet, they love each other deeply and hope to start a family together. He comes to Esther wondering how to raise children with someone who holds such different values from him and his family. Her question is deeper: by loving him, is she betraying herself? Producer’s Note: When our anonymous guests do a session with Esther for the podcast, it is an act of generosity for everyone who listens. These sessions are meant not only to support the people in the room with Esther, but all of us who learn from their stories. Our stories have many chapters, and what you hear is just one moment in someone’s journey. So even though the sessions are anonymous, please remember that real people are behind them and they may be reading your comments. Also, please join me on Entre Nous, my new home on Substack for anyone who wants to live, love, and work with more connection and imagination. I invite you to sign up and become a free or paid member at estherperel.substack.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSpeaker 00:02
None of the voices in this series are ongoing patients of Esther Perel. Each episode of Where Should We Begin is a one-time counseling session. For the purposes of maintaining confidentiality, names and some identifiable characteristics have been removed, but their voices and their stories are real.
Speaker 10:22
(instrumental music) If you get mad every time you pick up your phone and start scrolling, it's not just you. Rage bait is kind of the currency or the power that's behind a lot of the content we might see. This week on Explain It To Me from Vox, why the internet is pissing you off on purpose. New episodes Sundays wherever you get your podcasts.
Esther Perel· Host0:54
When we talk about differences in relationships, we sometimes talk about different childhoods, different backgrounds, different value systems as it pertains to family, or money, or work. This couple brings a very different list of differences.
Speaker 3· Guest1:15
I'm conservative. She's liberal. I'm a Christian. I believe in God. She's more of a agnostic. She believes in the sacredness of man. She's bi. I'm not bi. I don't even know what that even is. And when I was growing up, that wasn't, like, a thing. She's into saving