What is a Soulmate?

I’ve always believed in love — to me, denying the existence of love would be akin to denying one’s need for air. My mother told me about how I was conceived on a night of passion (not that I asked) and I’ve been witness to true love many times during this life of twenty-eight years.

I take classes about love, read books about love, watch films about love, listen to songs about love — my entire life has been a study in love, and especially in self-love. I am fascinated in the idea of soulmates, and more recently in the concept of twin flames. From my understanding, these concepts differ and one can have a number of soulmates over the course of their lifetime. However, there is only one “twin flame” for those who relate to this life path — that person is a mirror to your soul and, like the soulmates, they help you to become your Highest Self — the most evolved version of yourself.

I believe in God, since to me God is Love energy. I believe we each have a reason to be here on Earth and a divine mission or missions to fulfill during our time here. There are many ways to distract ourselves from our purpose. I am spiritual, but I don’t follow any specific religion. I was raised to be Catholic by a Protestant mother and a Catholic father (my mother converted her faith because she fell in love with my father). In this life, I’ve learned about many of the major religions and have attended services for several of these traditions in the United States, in Italy, and in the Dominican Republic. I love to travel and would love to experience more religious and spiritual traditions from other cultures. What I have come to realize is that people rely on one another and form friendships in these communities — people typically join groups in order to find love, or some form of it.

We are all on a love mission in one way or another. We need to learn how to love ourselves and to embody the most loving version of ourselves in order to help others. However, if we fail to put our own needs above the needs of others at times then we will become a detriment to others. There is also the danger of focusing only on the self and becoming greedy, which could cause one to forget their mission of love.

I get very interested in words, being a writer. I am intrigued about the splitting of the word “soulmate” and how when I type the word in this document I get an angry red line underneath the word until it’s split into two. I find it comforting to write “soulmate” as one word, although it’s apparently grammatically incorrect. When soulmates come together, there are people who enforce societal expectations that will attempt to keep space between the two. However, I feel that the union of the two is more beautiful and true. So, I click “Add” and the red lines beneath the words disappear. Sometimes we need to make a conscious choice to ignore other people’s opinions if our heart feels something else to be true.

Oddly, I don’t feel the same about the term “twin flame,” and feel no desire to write it as “twinflame.” I feel that like soulmates the purpose of your twin flame is to reflect to you what you need to do in order to evolve spiritually, but that these people ultimately don’t come together in the same way that soulmates do. When twin flames do join together in a relationship or partnership, they remain independent in many ways and there will be a definite shift in the ways of the world. These unions open people’s heart chakras and inspire new perceptions about how we can relate to one another here on Earth.

I’m thinking about how a square is always a rectangle, but a rectangle is not always a square. A twin flame is always a soulmate connection, but a soulmate is not necessarily a twin flame. Twin flames have very specific goals on this planet and if they fail to achieve them then they will be redirected through divine intervention. The love that a flame feels for their twin is intense beyond explanation. Throughout life, they feel connected and often dream of one another even before meeting in the physical. They help each other gain more self-love and appreciation for themselves and for their divine mission here.

Are you in love? Have you ever been in love? I often think we misunderstand this powerful energy, but even our mistakes in love are beautiful and protected. Your heart can be broken, but if you remain open to possibility, another connection will help you heal from past pain. You must keep choosing yourself and prioritizing your own goals in order to meet the person who can best match your vibration. Just as each of our fingerprints is unique, the way you express and receive love is unique, and it’s a challenge to learn how to communicate our needs in love with a romantic partner. I need a lot of reassurance and words of affirmation. I like to give gifts and compliments to people that I love. I am learning how to be a better lover each day by first pouring love into myself and nurturing my own needs.

I live from my heart and follow its calling, but sometimes I doubt or ignore my intuition and make errors. Usually this still ends up being okay. Self-forgiveness is important so that you can move on from missteps and try again with a renewed sense of hope and a better understanding of yourself. Rejection in love becomes redirection toward a better opportunity that you might not see coming. We must keep our hearts open to the surprise of miracles. Love is the most beautiful miracle of all.