Have you ever tried to share something you like with someone? Maybe you wanted your best friend to watch your favorite show, or your boyfriend to read your favorite book, or your sibling to play a game you enjoy. If it's something you really care about, you might feel insecure about sharing it. Sometimes, it feels like your favorite thing instantly drops in quality as soon as you care what another person thinks of it...and sometimes, their reactions to it don't make you feel any better.

Here's an example: a few nights ago, my boyfriend, my roommate, and I were looking for a show to watch. In the recommendations was a series that I absolutely loved when I was in middle school and early high school. My roommate had said she was interested in it before, but I knew that my boyfriend had already seen it and wasn't a fan. I suggested we put it on anyway, because I wanted to see if I still liked it as much as I used to.

While we were watching it, my boyfriend found several parts of it to criticize. He complained about the main characters, the story progression, the use of the antagonists, and all sorts of other things. Not to mention, he kept asking me about major plot points in front of my roommate, who had never seen the show. Meanwhile, I was enjoying it just as much as I did when I was younger. At one point, I became frustrated and told him to stop complaining.

"I get that you don't like this show, but can you just let me enjoy it?" I said.

He looked shocked, and said, "But I do like it."

I was thoroughly confused. The whole time we had been watching, he had said maybe one or two good things about the show. In my mind, it was obvious that he couldn't stand it, given all of the complaints he had. But then it occurred to me that the way I enjoy things may not necessarily be the same way everyone else does. When I have a favorite thing, I get excited and want to talk about everything that's good about it. I rarely notice the flaws in something I like, and if someone points out those flaws, I tend to get defensive. But my boyfriend made me realize that that isn't the only way to enjoy something. Some people might want to pick apart the things they enjoy, and speculate about what could have been done to make them better. For me, noticing flaws means that I like something less, but not everyone thinks that way.

The main point here is: it's okay to like what you like. You don't have to like it less because it has flaws, and you don't have to rely on other people's opinions to tell you how good something is. No matter what, the important thing is that you're enjoying yourself.