Souls and Spirits

I believe in soul mates. I also believe in kindred spirits. Hell, to be honest, I believe in everything. Or maybe it could better be said that I don’t discount anything. We, as humans, have created a system, tied together with these things we call words, that tell us what is real and what is not, and from early on most of us accept what we are told, where it fits into the scheme of who are, individually and collectively, and we don’t argue the minute details that might have been left out in order to make any idea solid. I decided very early in life to not accept what we have been taught as infallible, for I found too many “facts” along the way that debunked the Truth we have been spoon fed. It always seemed to me that Truth is something we each hold dear, but if you take my Truth and your Truth and His truth and Her truth out, lay them side by side, and compare them, they will not be consistent across the board. So for me, to say truth exists, I will concur, but I will caveat that with the idea that it is different for everyone.

But to get back to the topic at hand, I do firmly believe in soul mates and kindred spirits. And I further believe they are two different people (or many different people as the case may be). I have not had the occasion to determine if we each only have one soul mate, or if there are more than one that can fit that bill, but I will not argue the point that it is possible (for I also believe anything is possible). As for kindred spirits, I have known more than one in my life, so I will say that person in your life can be many people.

A soul mate, to me, is someone that is capable of knowing who you are no matter who you claim to be or who you project yourself to be with others. This is the one that can pull your insides out, lay them on a table and show you your true self. For many of us, the true self is a painful thing to see, for there are many things we are that we don’t necessarily “want” to accept, and quite often these are the things we do not like in others.  A soul mate can build you up to the pinnacle of what you could be, and further tear you down to the point of nothingness. This person is probably a hard person to spend your life with, for there are no walls they cannot penetrate, and we all need our walls. But it is good to know this person at least, for there are times in our lives when we need to be reminded of who we are truly. This is a person that can bring us back to our Truth, and smack us out of whatever reality we have created in our life.

A kindred spirit, on the other hand, is someone who shares our path in life. Of these there can be many, for there are only so many roads available for us to walk – and I say this with the eye of limitless possibilities. We will meet many people along our path, and a majority of these will at some point fork off our road to take another. But a kindred spirit will walk with you and share with you the way you envision the world. They may not be by your side always, but will always walk parallel with you. They will know you only as well as they know themselves, so they will not show you that which you deny, for they would have to recognize that denial in themselves also. They are the ones we are most comfortable with, for you recognize in them something of your own self. These are the ones that will smile when you smile and cry when you cry. Sadly, we probably have many we are totally unaware of, due to the constraints of space and time (two things I believe that were created by man to feel in control of life), but if we are lucky, we will know at least one of these people in our life.

So for these two people to be one in the same, I will argue that it is not possible. One person cannot hold the flames of a candle upright that burns at two ends. Only one side can stand up at a time. As close to similar as they may be, they are also quite the opposite. And if you are one of the few that has been blessed enough to have both in your life, you are quite lucky indeed.