The Other Soul Mates

By Miriam: Everyone wants to find their soul mate, and if you were to ask someone what they think their soul mate would look like, they would most likely describe a romantic partner of some sort, a scene of romance.

This idea of finding this specific type of love has become such a fixation with most people that many find only pain and suffering when they attempt to find it because what they are trying to find simply does not exist in the way fiction taught them to expect. Do I believe in soul mates? I actually do, but I feel that in our fixation over our quests for our romantic soul mates, and yes, I feel there can be more than one, we can often forget or even discount what I like to refer to as our other soul mates.

Let’s first look at the actual term “soul mate.” This term, anam cara, originally just meant “soul friend,” or a person who you feel a deep connection to without much past or experience together to explain why. Notice there is no mention of romance in this description. The term was originally intended for many different people in your life. So while a romantic partner could end up being a soul mate as well, a soul mate is not always a romantic partner, in fact, usually it isn’t. Think of all the romantic partners we get in one lifetime. Some of us may have zero. Now think about all the others, the other soul mates who are not romantic in any way, shape, or form: the familial, the platonic, the professional, the shadow, and the animal soul mates. In many ways, they are much more important to our growth as human beings.

The Familial:
We can’t pick ‘em, as they say, but we also don’t really focus on the soul connections we can have with our very own family. One soul mate I had in my own life was my father. He always said it was like talking to a little grownup when we had our discussions, but it was because he already knew me from a past life of mine. By finding each other again as father and daughter, we were able to heal a lot of his battle wounds, and in turn, mine from past lives. This is just one example of a soul bond that, in my mind, was just as pivotal, if not more so, than anything romantic.  Or those cousins, we only saw once a year, but when we did, it was like nothing had ever changed, and we just fell back into one another like music. What parent would deny they don’t feel their children are their soul mates?

The Platonic:
These are probably the most significant soul mates in my life. They come and go, and that is another myth about soul mates- that they are there for the rest of time- not always the case. Platonic bonds are another area of life where people get mired down in cinematic expectations: finding your soul tribe- that perfect group of friends, who are there through thick and thin, no matter what. Many are left wanting when it comes to fulfilling this fantasy, as many people, myself included, get our soul mates of the platonic variety from various places and even various times in our lives. While some are lucky enough to have an early and lasting soul tribe of platonic partners, more often than not, our platonic soul mates will arrive at different points, but often when we need them most.
 
The Professional:
Now most of us don’t want to think about that obnoxious boss or coworker who kept stealing your yogurt out of the break lounge as a soul mate, but in a lot of ways our professional soul mates help us in the financial and professional world. Think about the mentors, the support systems, the fan clubs of professionals many of us have been privileged to know over the years. They often teach us the harder lessons. The lessons we would rather just skip. No one wants to be viewed as anything less than what they set out to be, so embracing the soul mates who can be found in the professional world, including the educational is one of the most valuable steps a person can take in their journey. Not only do they provide excellent mirrors, they also provide various vantage points of ourselves and the situations around us in a way that we could never find on our own. These soul mates are the ones who instruct us in the practical affairs of physical living, of finding our way in the masses, and of leaving legacy on a larger scale than our familial bonds.

 
The Shadow:
This is probably the most overlooked of all our soul mates because these are the soul mates that we absolutely do NOT like. In fact, we may even end up hating them, and for good reason: these are the soul mates who can quite literally hurt us physically or mentally. They are the hardcore dark side of the soul mate arena, and not all people and professionals will agree with me that they should be on this list. I feel that they really should if only for the simple fact that it teaches us to live from a higher vibrational frequency in all areas of our life in order to recognize not all soul connections are good, and it can also teach us to separate a human being from their deeds, which can be a valuable tool in all aspects of life. Not all shadow soul mates are going to hurt you- those are extreme possibilities, but many of them are going to teach you a thing or two, and you might not always like it. They are a necessary part of life balance and essential to learning our life lessons the way Spirit intends.

The Animal:
And let’s not forget my personal favorite, the animals. We often don’t think about why we found the pet we found or why that pet found us, but we have soul mates who are animals as well. This is one area where I won’t get a lot of argument from others about whether or not a soul mate connection can exist outside of romance.  Most also won’t argue that animals vibrate with a completely different understanding than we do, and to feel there is nothing to learn from that would simply be denying yourself deeper truths that only Spirit can interpret, but all of us can feel.

We are all here for a reason. We all gather with like-minded people to try to better understand the world, ourselves, and our place within that world. If romance is such a small fraction of our lives, why not embrace the other soul connections and bonds that are around us every day while we still can? Is romance wonderful when it happens? Absolutely! But in the meantime, spending a little bit of energy exploring and discovering your other soul friends is most certainly worth a lot. The more we embrace the energies who are available and ready for us, the more we will rise in our own vibrations, drawing the attention of more deserving people, and yes, romantic partners. So give thanks for your other soul mates in your life. They will be there for you in ways romance can’t touch.