Spice the Love No.1

Dear friends,

It’s us, Nhà Có Hai Người (House of Two). Today, with a little flutter in our hearts, we send you the very first letter – a gentle beginning to a journey we’ve named “Spice the Love”. Think of it as a small sprinkle of warmth dropped into your day, like a familiar melody or the scent of something you love.

Why “Spice the Love”?

Alain de Botton once wrote: “Chloe and I could both speak of being in love, and yet this love might mean significantly different things within each of us. We had often read the same books at night in the same bed, and later realized that they had touched us in different places: that they had been different books for each of us.”

Erich Fromm affirmed that “In love, two people become one and remain two at the same time”. Vietnamese poet Tản Đà once expressed a similar thought: “You and I are two yet one. I and you are one yet two”. Two people in love live two separate lives, while sharing a significant part of those lives. There is no way to merge two entire lives into one. Poet Lưu Quang Vũ captured love in a way that was both romantic and grounded in reality. His lines remain deeply moving:

“Your days and my days are now shared
Shared horizons and shared pages
Shared a single lamp and the window where rain falls.”

Poet Xuân Quỳnh, a woman with an extraordinary sensitivity to both the beauty and harshness of life, always intertwined romance with the everyday. In the book “Trong đáy mắt trời xanh là vĩnh viễn” (roughly translated: The gaze holds a sky of forever), there are letters she wrote to her husband, Lưu Quang Vũ, during the months they spent apart. During a work trip to Russia, she wrote to him about the places she visited such as the Palace of Catherine the Great, the palace of Peter the Great, Pushkin’s house, the Hermitage Museum and more, along with her intimate reflections. Standing amidst a towering culture, she wondered: “Art here feels eternal. It transcends time and space with such strength, yet without people to preserve it, it dissolves like water or smoke. Perhaps the keeper is even more important than the art itself.” She also mused: “I do not understand how Peter the Great could do so many things and still have time to play. Or perhaps only those who can play are capable of great work.”

Their letters became “the most beautiful dialogue of love”, as poet Nguyễn Duy described, because they were so achingly real. For them, every period of separation felt ordinary in every way except for the longing that refused to be ordinary. They shared everything about their daily lives within the quiet space of love.

We also believe that love is never confined to the relationship between two people. “Love” includes the tenderness we offer ourselves, our family, friends and colleagues. It is the affection we carry for the places we visit, for the people we cherish and for the small but wondrous moments scattered throughout our days.

At “Nhà Có Hai Người”, we tell stories about love, home, the kitchen, travel and the nurturing of body, mind and spirit. These are all ways to make the heart more spacious and the soul more abundant. We hope that every letter delivered to your inbox becomes a small dose of seasoning for your love for life, a gentle reminder that each passing day carries its own quiet happiness.

Thank you for being here with us from the very beginning. We look forward to meeting you again in the next letters, where we continue to “spice the love” together.

With love,
Nhà Có Hai Người (House of Two)

Explore stories of love through our different sections. Each piece is a small fragment, gathering the tenderness of everyday life and reminding us that love is present in every ordinary moment.

If this letter resonates with you or brings you something meaningful, feel free to share or forward it to friends and loved ones.

All stories are available in Vietnamese. You can switch languages directly on our website.

You are also welcome to share your own stories or send feedback to help us improve the “Spice the Love” newsletter. Write to us at: imeo@nhacohainguoi.com