Soulmates

Do you think that you have a soulmate, who is out there somewhere and you long for the day that your paths will cross?

I like to believe that everyone truly harbours the hope that they will someday find that one special person. I am going to slightly sit on the fence over this one as I'm not actually 100% sure whether we have one or many soulmates, and I'm not entirely sure that everyone meets that said special person in their lifetime.

Last night I spent a delightful evening with my fellow writer's group friends. We sat, as we do every month whiling away two very quick hours, reading, sharing anecdotes and writing. Part of our homework for that month was to bring along a significant object. As we worked our way around the table, Teach announced that she had regrettably forgotten her object, however proceeded to tell us in detail about the significant object she had wanted to bring.

Teach spent a lot of time in her late twenties travelling around the world and generally 'finding herself' after a nasty marriage break-up. During these travels she went to Thailand where she met a Canadian man. (It was at this point of the story that she decided to emphasise the fact that they were not lovers- and I confess I did giggle at this!) Anyway, she described this man and how he helped her; acting as a sort of mentor and guide through this difficult time in her life. He had given her a beautiful piece of coral, which she had brought back to England with her and which now sits proudly on her bookcase at home. It was then that she said that she supposed that he was her soulmate. I was both slightly shocked and intrigued by her, albeit flippant, comment that he was her soulmate as she is a happily married woman. Surely she should be married to Mr Canadian guy if she truly thought he was her soulmate?

I spent sometime thinking about the whole soulmate issue and I began to wonder that perhaps 'we' have completely misunderstood it. Maybe people spend so long searching for this special person, discarding anyone who does not quite come up to scratch, that we actually miss out on meeting our true soulmate?

Do we place too many expectations on our partners? Does society assume that the person you choose to date/live with/marry is your soulmate? I think that there are many people out there who, if pressed, would admit that in fact their partner is not their soulmate. Just look at the divorce rates for a start.

It was late last night that I realised that a soulmate can be anyone. It does not necessarily have to be your lover/boyfriend/girlfriend/wife. Perhaps, a soulmate can simply be someone you connect with on a different level; someone who sincerely cares for you and you for them; someone who you cannot imagine your life without and someone who brings something to your life that no one else can.