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SBU | Wellness > Sex + Relationships

The Importance of Platonic Soulmates

Audney Burnside Student Contributor, St. Bonaventure University
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at SBU chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

So often, we are overloaded with the concept of “soulmates,” and how everyone is just hanging around here on Earth, bound to meet theirs eventually.

Maybe they are waiting for you to notice them in line at a dreamy cafe, maybe it’s your arch-nemesis coworker whom you swear you can’t stand, or whatever other narratives the movies are pushing these days.

However, what kind of life can we all live if we are supposed to be waiting around for this awesomely romantic soulmate experience that we are allegedly supposed to encounter?

I am a firm believer that we can have several soulmates. Past, future, and present. Another important clarification: they can be ROMANTIC or PLATONIC.

I especially believe that platonic soulmates are incredibly important. Having friends that feel written in the stars is the most wonderful human experience (for me at least).

Whenever I am asked to describe my best friend, Elizabeth, genuinely, all I can think to say is “Yeah, she’s literally my soulmate.” This is because I have actually never met someone who is so perfectly aligned with me.

To some, I sound weird, or crazy, or like I maybe have a confession to make, but it’s genuinely the best way for me to describe it. Someone can be meant for you, as in meant to be your dear friend. It doesn’t have to be “OMG, you are meant to marry me.”

Here is the truth. Elizabeth is going to be in my life forever, completes me in multiple ways, and is an integral part of my existence. That is the grounds for a soulmate, right? The only thing missing is the societal perception that being in my life forever actually alludes to a fruitful marriage.

So please, let’s not be too strict in our definitions of what qualifies as a soulmate. Let’s not set limits or expectations. Life is probably NOT going to come at you in rom-com format.

Platonic soulmates, friends that completely tear through the term “best friend” and need an even more exceptional title to explain just how MORE than best they are, could be the true definition of a soulmate anyway. I know in my experience, this seems to be more of the case.

Love you can’t describe does not have to be limited by others’ opinions.

So let your best friend know they just might be your platonic soulmate. I know mine is.

Audney Burnside is Co-President of the St. Bonaventure Her Campus chapter. She publishes articles weekly, spanning the topics of music, lifestyle and popular culture. She hopes to further the amazing creativity that her chapter of Her Campus has to share with the world, while coordinating meetings, helping where needed, and running the business side of things!

Audney is currently a senior at St. Bonaventure University, studying Public Health in the 3+2 Occupational Therapy Master's program. Audney brings a high degree of campus involvement to the chapter, not only as Co-Pres of Her Campus, but also as a peer mentor in Bona Buddies, the President of SBU for Equality, a Student Ambassador and also as a peer tutor!

Apart from academics, Audney’s life revolves around the music she loves, outdoorsy adventures, and her best friends. Audney is a devoted cat mom and enthusiastic nature explorer, who loves kayaking with her family, takes way too much pride in her Taylor Swift concert attendance, and will bring up The Catcher in the Rye at any moment possible. Don't even get her started on Pride and Prejudice....