Let’s talk about love. Do you believe in the idea of a soulmate? Do you think there is one person for everyone- and do you think that no matter what, if you’re “supposed” to meet that person you will? This week, talk about your experience with love and discuss what you believe, and also be sure to touch on what helped shape those beliefs.

Photo by 3haus Photographics

The idea of a soulmate is both beautiful & tragic to me. On the one hand, the notion that you could find that one person, the yin to your yang, is quite lovely. That is, if you find that person & manage to hold on to them. Life likes to throw a wrench in beautiful, well thought out plans & losing your soulmate (or worse even , never finding them) is cruel if you only get the one. I like to believe that life isn’t quite that cruel.

By the same token, I do believe that N is the right person for me & I can’t imagine feeling this way about someone else (for the skeptics out there – yeah, I know everyone says that about their current relationship. Maybe we’re not all wrong?). Maybe it’s more of a choice. I don’t think I know the answer, & in all honesty, I’m not really sure I care to know.

What I do know for certain is that I love N. Sometimes that love is crazy & inexplicable. Sometimes it’s beautiful & unwavering. Sometimes I can’t keep it to myself while other times, it sits subtly under the surface. It’s in the every day as much as in those special moments, in the good as much as the bad. So whether I chose N or he chose me or it came from somewhere else entirely is irrelevant to me. I’ve chosen to be present in this relationship & in this love & to work at making it the best it can be.

These things are important to me – the working & being present. We recently met with our officiant & one comment he made really stuck with me because I’ve thought the same for a long time. We were talking about some of the significance behind different rituals at weddings & he said that like life, love has it’s ups & downs. It’s like a wave. Things will never stay tough for ever.

So while I do have many romantic (perhaps, naive) notions about love, I hope I keep these things in mind as we continue to grow & evolve together. Our relationship is still young (5 years, this Saturday. Happy Anniversary, N!), but I hope we continue to choose this love, soulmates or not.

I’ll leave you with my favourite quote about love:

“On ne voit bien qu’avec le coeur. L’essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.” (Antoine de St Exupery)

I’ve translated this as: “It is only with the heart that one can see clearly. What is essential is invisible to the eye.”

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This post is in response to Danielle’s prompt on her blog, Sometimes Sweet. Find the rest of my responses in this series here.