My favorite show is Dawson’s Creek. What an interesting factoid, you say, now get on with it! (I have a point.) That show dealt heavily with the subject of soulmates. I just watched the show mainly because I fell in love with the characters (not literally!! i’m not THAT crazy!) and their setting. I didn’t really pay all that much attention to the soulmates deal throughout most of its duration. It really only made an impression on me in the very last episode.

Jen: I know. I mean, from the second that I stepped out of that cab and onto the creek, I–I was the instigator, you know? The girl who caused problems and rocked the creek and upset the delicate emotional balance of Capeside, and–and I don’t want Amy to be that person. I want her to belong. I feel like I never really did.
Jack: Jen, you belong. You belong to me. Don’t you get it? [Sniffles] You’re my soul mate. [source]

For some reason that hit something with me. I didn’t even believe in soulmates before that. The thought of each person being destined to another was rather absurd. Because not everyone found each other. Some people marry other people’s soulmates, some die too young, others miss each other like ships in the night. Ridiculous! My thoughts on soulmates could basically be summed up as I did in my short story Lacey: “I have a theory. My theory is that some people don’t get the happy ending. There isn’t a soulmate waiting out there for everyone”. But the thought that you can have a soulmate that wasn’t romantically linked was another thought entirely (as Jack was gay and didn’t think of Jen in a romantic way, even though she was in love with him for quite awhile).

It does seem that certain people connect in an almost other-worldly way. Finishing sentences for each other, reading minds, having the same thoughts, feelings… it is mind-boggling. In a short amount of time people can get to know each other very well, if the connection is there. There are people I’ve known for ten years and still can’t claim that I know them inside out.

Does this mean I think everyone has someone made especially for them, waiting out there? No. But there are people that make real connections, and that is the thing that means the most to me in the world. Success and stability — that’s great. But without strong relationships you might as well be a hobo. When it’s all said and done all you have are memories, and I want to have memories of something real.