soulmate?

A week ago my unsure response was, “You don’t”.

Now, my answer is, “You just do”.

Just about everyone here at Dundee Village is hippie-esque or bohemian, or at least big on fate and destiny and stuff, so it’s no surprise that just about everyone gushes about soulmates all the time. Personally, I never understood soulmates. It just didn’t make sense in a lot of cases.

For example, Syretia’s mom and dad were happily married and everyone called them soulmates. When he died, Syretia and Mrs. Kent were devastated. Then Mrs. Kent began dating Mr. Corliss and everyone said they were soulmates. They’re now engaged.

Syretia must’ve sensed something was off too because she asked me about it. And as someone who didn’t believe in soulmates, I shrugged it off. But then something happened, and I think I finally get it.

Every New Year’s Eve, City Council throws a town-wide celebration. The main party takes place at City Hall, but everyone in town celebrates regardless of where they are. This year- or should I say last year?- my family attended with Avis, Milos and Echo’s families. We four stayed together the whole time while everyone else went off.

The nice thing about Dundee Village is that barely anyone will judge your sexuality or who you love. No one cared that 2 boys and 2 girls were in a relationship- if anything, they adored it.

So we were left in peace. Ever since the New Year’s celebration from 2 years ago, we’ve had this funny tradition where when the clock struck 12 everyone would lean in at the same time so we could kiss everyone else at the same time. Granted, it’s sloppy and we always burst into laughter afterward, but it works. That night, as we were laughing, Syretia’s question came to mind. It was then that I realized the answer.

Everyone talks about having a soulmate- about how perfect they are, how lovely, how much they want to find them, but I have to ask, what exactly is a soulmate?

The answer is simple.

Everyone in the world is different in some way, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other people so much like you they could be another you. Generally speaking, there are a lot of ‘yous’ out there. Just like that, you have a lot of soulmates out there. Some people have just one (though I doubt it), some people have several. Some people only ever meet one, some people meet a few one by one, some people meet them all at once. But no matter what your case, there is something all soulmates have in common.

They are everything you never knew you needed, and the piece(s) of you that you never knew was there.

A week ago, Syretia asked me, “How do you know if you’ve found your soulmate?”

A week ago, my unsure response was, “You don’t.”

Now, my answer is, “You just do.”