Leisure interest vs. professional interest??

[zone]

I am curious what everyone thinks:

 

If you have the same professional interest with someone (of the opposite sex), but he/she doesn't share your leisure interest,

 

Or the opposite:

 

If you and someone share the same passion for some leisure activities, but your professional careers/interests are very different,

 

Which is more likely to make a lasting relationship?

 

Leisure interests could be hiking, or photographing..., but has to be something that is very important to you, which you must do frequently.

[NoMoreJerks]

I'm not entirely decided on this one, but here goes:

 

On the one hand, different careers could mean that you cannot share stuff about your day in as meaningful a way as you would've if you had had similar careers. Sure, you can tell them how your day was, but you can't go into much detail if they are unaware of the issues/things you work on, etc. And then again, if your partner is not a narcissist like my ex was, I guess he would be more interested in what you do and , over time, understand what your career entails and what your work day might look like.

 

Still, I am tempted to say that leisure interests coinciding is more important, because if you both work 9-5, and then have evenings and weekends to spend together, and you have radically different interests (you might hate hiking, for example), then you will be unable/unwilling to do those activities together. Of course, if you're into something that your partner is not into, you could still continue practicing it, and he does not have to get involved, and I suppose that's healthy in a relationship, but I would want us to do as many things together as possible, and just as I would want to do things with him that he's interested in (even if I don't enjoy it a lot), I would want him to do the same with mine.. I guess it also depends on the couple and how willing they are to sacrifice their time to share in activities that they are not genuinely interested in. My ex would never have done it. In fact, during the entire time that we were dating, I couldn't even get him to leave the apartment after we had gone out for dinner after work, to go for a walk; or to go to the park or drive out of town over the weekend. I found myself sitting at home with him and watching TV, because that is what he wanted to do. I did it without complaining, but at some point it became a bit too much and started getting on my nerves.

Edited September 16, 2012 by NoMoreJerks

[FitChick]

Leisure interests are more important because most people don't want to come home from work and talk about work. They want to relax and forget about work. Unless they run a business together or they are passionate about their jobs.

[zone]

Ok, thanks for the replies so far. Now what about if you share leisure interests but the difference in professions are on intellectual levels?

[Mycteria]

I think this question would depend on whether the person's professional job is something they have a passion for. When I'm done with school I'll be working in a field that is my #1 passion, hobby, and intellectual interest. So I would greatly prefer to share that with my partner. I'll hopefully end up marrying a guy who's in my field of science.

 

But if I were a fast food worker, obviously I would place more emphasis on them sharing my leisure activities. So it just depends.

[GirlontheLam]

Leisure. We need to share a few of those to work out. Job similarity is completely unimportant. But on a separate note, I know personally intellectual curiosity is a critical trait in a mate for me. So basically as long as I have someone who is passonate about something, driven, has intellectual curiosity and we have a few common interests in leisure, we'll get along just fine.

[Untouchable_Fire]

Leisure activities are closer to the core of who a person is... most people choose careers for many reasons that may not match their true interests.