Zunera Mahmood: “Soulmates”

I believe that our souls consist of more than just ourselves. The idea that we have more than one soulmate is intriguing to me. We meet hundreds, if not millions, of people. Some remain strangers while others become our closest place of comfort. To think that there are people who we seem to connect with before we get to know them for who they are underneath their exteriors, brings to mind the idea that souls may have met in another place before. I have had similar experiences where at a point in my life, the person I would gladly call my home became my biggest confidant, and my bestest friend- whom I had known for a large portion of my life- became nothing more than a distant memory.

In grade school, I met a girl who was similar to me in many ways; we enjoyed the same books, had the same favorite color, and were practically joined at the hip. It felt as though she were me and I was her, with the exception of the obvious difference in height. I wouldn’t say I was very short compared to her, but it was clear to anyone who saw us that we were not sisters. The way we acted around each other, however close we initially were, was in the same way the moon orbits the earth. The earth and the moon are both beautiful satellites in the sky that are adored by all the other stars in the sky; even the sun is envious of the bond they carry. The inevitable ends and the earth decimates with the moon being the culprit of a crime it didn’t mean to commit, and then the curtain closes after the universe fades away while the ending credits come on screen.

In more simpler terms, me and my friend broke apart over situations I am still unaware about and might never understand. We were pieces of each other until the day we weren’t, best friends until we grew older, but the pieces didn’t go away – they etched themselves into places where I refuse to look, poking and prodding me as a reminder that they will never leave, because once a soul recognizes its soulmates, it refuses to let them go even if all they bring is pain. I suppose that’s the beauty of a soulmate, even if it’s something that frustrates me to no end.

There was another time when I met a person who had the same feeling as I did, where we kept asking each other, “Have we met before?” in the middle of our conversations. It was a bewildering experience, but it opened my eyes to what I now believe is a natural phenomenon. A bond that forms between not just two lovers, but between souls that have enough love to share without feeling indebted to return the rent for the space it may take. I value the connections we make in life, regardless of the reasons they came to be. Our souls have the capacity to understand what we cannot, and recognize what we could be missing in terms of love, care, pain, and warmth.

While the definition of soulmates is often generalized as a relationship between the souls of lovers, it has many complex sub-categories that hold as much value as love does. Just as there are many types of relationships in the world, souls aren’t limited to simply having a few bonds or connections. Soulmates are more than the way we function with those around us or those we see as potential partners; they are pieces of us that are waiting to be found, this I believe.

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(Read all the pieces in This I Believe)

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