Every relationship has a kind of weather.
Some days are clear.
Some are stormy.
Some are just oddly tense and no one says why.
The old pattern is to only track your own sky.
You know when you feel off.
You know when you feel attacked.
But you miss the softer signals coming from the other side.
Emotional intelligence in relationships is the art of paying attention to the whole field.
You notice your own waves.
Tight chest.
Short answers.
You also notice theirs.
Quieter than usual.
Forced jokes.
Eyes that do not quite meet yours.
You do not need to mind read.
You simply treat those signals as information, not as threats.
You can say, “I am feeling a little shut down right now,” or “I am sensing something is heavy for you, is that true.”
Over time, this builds a shared language.
Instead of exploding once a month, you both catch the smaller ripples.
You repair faster.
You learn which actions soothe and which ones sting.
Love, here, is staying curious about what is moving through the space between you, not just defending your own side of the story.