Many of us are familiar with the romantic tale within “Plato’s Symposium.” In the text, it is believed that humans were created with four arms, four legs, and a head with two faces. For some reason, the God Zeus decided to split them apart into two halves, forever searching for their other half, and hence giving an eye-misting definition of the word soulmate. There are other creation stories involving soulmates as well.
For example, some believe that we all enter life with “soul groups,” and within these groups of “soul mates” the most compatible soul within the group is known as your “twin soul.” To simplify the various definitions that people have of “soul groups,” the main idea can be summarized within this scenario. Imagine that you are in a large group of people. Let’s say that there are 12 of you. You get along with every single person in this group of people. You share the same values, core beliefs, patterns of thinking, watch the same YouTube channels, and laugh at the same memes on Twitter. These people are all your soulmates. However, there is one person within the group of 12 that you are matched with perfectly. You both inspire each other to become better people and feel as if the each of you are a bonus to the other’s lives. This person is known as your twin soul, also known as your “twin flame,” and everyone within the soul group has their own “twin soul.” Likewise, you and your soul group are dispersed throughout the earth in different times and ages to be reunited in several different ways, hopefully adding to the spiritual knowledge and advancement of your soul, until each member of your soul group is completely enlightened, and you are able to all join each other above…
Now this seems like a lot of commitment and destiny for the present generation of ghost-ers and Tinder date fails, however, some people within the Millennial age still believe that true love exists, and that we all do have soul mates. I have interviewed three young millennials who believe they have met their “soulmate” whether it be a best friend or lover, to see their take on why they believe they have met their soulmate, as well as their views on destiny, and whether millennials should change the way that we date and look for future partners. (Fake names have been used to preserve anonymity.)
Person A: Beyonce, 18
Person B: Kendrick, 20
Person C: Miguel, 19
Is your soulmate a best friend or a lover?
Beyonce: “My best friend!”
Kendrick: “A lover!”
Miguel: “We’ve been in a relationship for the past two years, but prior to that we were best friends, still are.”
What is your definition of a soul mate?
Beyonce: “It is someone that God placed in your life for every season of life. So a lot of people say some people come into your life for a season and some people come into your life for a reason. The person that’s there for a reason that’s gonna be with you until you die, and I know my best friend is going to be with me until I die…which I hope is not soon (laughter)”
Kendrick: “The one who makes me feel loved. And the one who metaphorically completes me.”
Miguel: “Someone who you share a bond with emotionally, spiritually, and physically. Someone you can be yourself around and that you see yourself spending the rest of your life with.”
How did you guys meet?
Beyonce: “We met when we were both in middle school. I was in 7th grade and she was in 8th grade. We met because we were apart of the youth choir at church. We’ve been best friends ever since.”
Kendrick: “I texted her friend ‘hey’ and she said her friend thought that I was cute. I said ‘alright, thank you’ and I asked for a picture of her and I thought she was an absolute angel, and my friend gave me her number and I’ve been smitten ever since.”
Miguel: “We met in high school. We had a chemistry class together.”
Do you think that your meeting was destiny?
Beyonce: “Yes! Most definitely. She has been the most amazing supportive person that I could have ever imagined being as far as a friend.”
Kendrick: “Yes, I think us talking and planning to meet is destiny and ordained by God.”
Miguel: “I don’t know about destiny, not sure if I’m a believer of all of that.”
What do you think makes them your soulmate?
Beyonce: “She’s my soulmate because she … I guess has been with me through everything, and it’s very challenging especially with friendships with girls for their not to be any jealousy. She’s 100 percent happy for me when I’m succeeding, and im 100 percent happy for her when she’s succeeding.”
Kendrick: “Well I feel abnormally comfortable talking to her. Like she knows me better than I know myself. And she still loves me and chooses me despite my imperfections.”
Miguel: “I basically think that we are because of all the things I said in the last question, and I can tell she truly is in love with me.”
What was the moment you believed they were your soulmate?
Beyonce: “I don’t think I remember a particular moment when I was like this is it, but I do remember an instance when we went shopping together. And it’s very hard for two girls to go shopping together, believe it or not! Because girls be hatin’! They be hatin’! And she was able to tell me like ‘yes, that looks great on you, I like it because of this’, or ‘no, I think that’s not that good of an option’. She was very honest with me, and I was able to be honest with her. And that’s hard for two alpha females.”
Kendrick: “When she said she would still love me and take care of me even if I remained in my wheelchair permanently.”
Miguel: “The first time we realized we were soulmates was during a ‘shroom trip.”
Do you think that online dating and new dating practices can still allow for someone to meet their soulmate? And if not do you think we as humans should have a different way/idea about dating?
Beyonce: “There’s nothing wrong with online dating, if that’s something that works for you. It’s a personal choice for me not to do it, because I just want to meet someone in person and I feel like that’s gonna happen organically. But like if you feel led that your soulmate will be online, it’s fine. There are a lot of people who have met their soulmates online. I know a particular couple in mind, and they have three kids. They met online as fully grown adults in their 40’s. So I think that real love is out there for everyone… well not everyone, but it depends on how you view yourself. You have to have yourself together as a single person, and I think that that’s really what’s missing. It’s about why you’re going online. If you’re going online to get attention, if you’re going online to be thirsty, that’s a negative. But if you’re really serious about meeting someone and that’s just one avenue of getting to know someone, then that’s great for you.”
Kendrick: “I think online dating won’t allow someone to meet their soulmate. I think it will allow someone to meet a variety of different people to have romantic flings with.”
Miguel: “Yes, I do think new dating practices can lead to someone finding the person they are meant to be with.”
Overall, your definition of what a soulmate is, is your own. Hopefully, there is new perspective to be gained from these interviews. Good luck with finding your soul mate!