"SoulMates" by Imani C

        

In the beginning, women, children of the earth, and men, children of the sun, were created with one body, four arms, four legs, and one head. On this one head were the two faces of an inseparable duo. This one body of the two mates contained one shared soul. However, the philosopher Plato believed that people became too strong in this form. They became extremely prideful beings and threatened the Gods and their power, by attempting to conquer them. The Gods considered destroying them with lightning, very similar to how they destroyed the Titans, but later decided against it- as the Gods still absolutely, and selfishly might I add, adored the gifts these humans bestowed upon them. So Zeus, being the brilliant problem solver he is, decided to split the beings in half as punishment- into two heads, two arms and two legs each, two separate bodies, and two separate souls. These two separate bodies would then wander the Earth in search of their other half. It is believed most couldn’t survive. They refused to socialize, refused to move, and even refused to eat. They felt as if something was missing, but the inability to find and make whole the unaccounted for drove them crazy. Thus, coins the term… Soulmates.

            In a world that thrives off of the idea of finding the eternal, it is kind of hard to ignore a story like this. We believe our soulmates are those whose hands fit into ours “like a missing puzzle piece”, or someone who picks up what we lack, or even someone who will love us unconditionally. While those aren’t wrong, I don’t believe it is the whole truth, either. I believe a soulmate is someone who uncovers a piece of you that not even your mother knew existed. I believe a soulmate can be someone who may not necessarily be your forever, but can be your fondest memory or even the most painful. What I mean by this is, a soulmate encourages spiritual, emotional, and mental growth. Not the stereotypical verbal affirmations like, “You can do this!” or “I think you’re great”... But the nitty gritty experiences. The ones that force you to take a step back and look at yourself through a brutally realistic lens and come to terms with aspects about yourself you purposefully neglect or hide away from others. We are able to uncover the truth because they reflect who we are. They reflect our strengths, our weaknesses, and our secrets. They are our spiritual mirror without an identical physical countenance.

            The only bummer is, some of us never find our soulmate. And if we do, we add layers of the unbreakable on top of our truths. We finds ways to run away from our growth because it isn’t always the most pleasant. And others of us forge the idea of our soulmate, forcing our way into one body, four arms, four legs, and one soul.