Soulmates

I've played with the words soul, and mate before. I've let the two words put together roll off my tongue much too easily, and it sure was easy to say. It felt good to hear, it felt safe to believe. I felt safe enough to believe that I would be safe one day, once I found the mate my soul so desperately needed. I was excited to find the one I was supposed to be bound to inevitably, with the connection I craved, the missing piece in my life.

My mind went on a tangent sometimes, citing Greek philosophers as Aristophane's speech so obviously stated,

"Love is born into every human being; it calls back the halves of our original nature together; it tries to make one out of two and heal the wound of human nature. Each of us then, is a matching half of a human whole...and each of us, is always seeking the half that matches him."

Like so many others, this philosophy was ingrained in to my head, leaving me with no other goal than to continue my search for the other half of me. As time passed it became evident that the other half must be tried on first and forcing them to fit made for a discouraging task.

I realized my beloved philosopher's words were in fact referring to the literal wound inflicted by the Greek God Zeus. Humans were created with two heads, four arms, four legs. A powerful being deemed a potential threat to the Gods. He struck them all inflicting a wound to break them in half thus forever leaving them weaker, searching the Earth for their other half.

Zeus was afraid of humans becoming too powerful—not falling in love. Aristophane must have meant only that human nature's search for their other half turned that search in to love.

Soulmates. The person that completes you, the one that will make you feel whole, essentially stronger when you are together. Turns out Greek philosophy is not my forté, I only meant to try and find happiness in love. It is difficult to find love that doesn't need work, that's why we've fabricated the idea of a soulmate. It eliminates the need for work, because once you find that person, it should just fit. It is something to look forward to, something to be hopeful for.

The reality is, all souls need work. If and when you find that other half of you, who has no doubt by now become their own being, with a soul of their very own which will also need work, that is when you put in the work together. Still, sometimes no matter how much work you put in, it doesn't work, it stops fitting, the search continues. And the lucky ones will find it without looking, the kind that may still need work but will always find a way to stay together.

I'd like to say the words still roll off my tongue as easily as it once did. But now I know it is not that easy, for everything else we have to work for love should come easy right? But as with Greek mythology, there must be Greek tragedy. And should you find yourself a believer like I once was, don't give up. Otherwise maybe we are our own soulmates, we are already complete, just was we are. We just need a little time to find ourselves. And when we do, may we find another soul to compliment us.