Currently Playing Animals By Pink Floyd see related

today i simply needed clarity. . .

Romancing the Soul
True Stories of Soul Mates from around the World and Beyond

An Excerpt By Dorothy Thompson

Website: www.DorothyThompson.net

INTRODUCTION

Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies. - Aristotle

Snow White and Prince Charming. Romeo and Juliet. Beauty and the Beast. Harry and Sally. These are all names that come to mind when one thinks of the term soul mate. The ancient belief can be found in cultures the world over. But what does the term soul mate actually mean?

In the dictionary, “soul mate” means one of two persons compatible with each other in disposition, point of view or sensitivity; someone for whom you have a deep affinity. This explains the basic qualities, but we all know the soul mate theory goes much deeper than that.

According to Celtic wisdom, our souls begin their journey together as one being that becomes broken apar t. Two souls emerge and move on into their life journeys. Perhaps we find our twin soul in this life. Maybe we find it in another life.

In order for our soul mate to appear we must be ready for them. You will not meet your soul mate if you are still coming from a place of fear or jealousy in relationships. You couldn’t run before you could walk, and you won’t meet your soul mate before you are ready to learn what she/he has to teach you. In order to find our soul mate, we must be emotionally secure and know what we want from life.

THREE KINDS OF SOUL MATES

Did you know there are three main kinds of soul mates?

They are: Karmic, Companion and Twin Flames. Study the different kinds and discover which category your soul mate falls under. This will give you a broader understanding of why he or she has come into your life. To help you, I will explain the differences.

KARMIC SOUL MATE

The karmic soul mate experience is very common. You can have many of these in a lifetime. They enter your life to teach you an important lesson. Karmic soul mates can be co-workers, family members or close friends. One young woman particularly close to me comes to mind. Her name is Amanda Jane, and she is about twenty years my junior. She jokes that I must be her mother from another life. What makes our friendship special is that we touch on a spiritual level.

I often wonder why Amanda was brought into my life. We are very close, but what lesson am I to learn from her? To enjoy life again? Amanda comes from a dysfunctional family. Am I here to teach her a lesson? Am I to show her that she is loved and cherished? It can and does work both ways.

Sometimes karmic soul mate relationships can be romantic in nature; but if so, they won’t last long. That is because these relationships are solely meant for learning lessons and for growth rather than for obtaining a life partner.

Another thing we must keep in mind is that not all karmic relationships are human. Sometimes, pets we consider to be special members of our family can display the same karmic characteristics as humans. An example of this is Avis Townsend’s story “Back With Eli” in the karmic section of the book. Ms. Townsend’s story shows there are special relationships we can have with our pets to the point where the bond between pet and human becomes so deep it’s hard to dismiss it as anything other than the true karmic soul mate relationship.

Another point to remember about karmic soul mates, as well as other kinds of soul mates, is that each one, whether human or animal, comes into our lives for a reason and to teach us a lesson about ourselves.

COMPANION SOUL MATE

A companion soul mate relationship can be a relationship that is romantic in nature. It involves your wife/husband or someone you are intimate with. Oftentimes, these soul mates are not destined to be with us forever but, like Karmic soul mates, are brought into our lives for a purpose.

It is possible to spend a lifetime with your companion soul mate if you haven’t met your twin soul. However, when the twin soul is found, the companion soul mate relationship could suffer. When this happens, the companion soul mate relationship is generally short-lived or, if it continues, a non-satisfying one. However, this is no reason to jump ship when it happens. Remember, there is a reason your companion soul mate is in your life (for example, so you can raise children together).

When your twin soul comes into your life and you are in a companion soul mate relationship, it is important that you take things slowly. It may be that the companion soul mate relationship will come to an end—or it may not. One thing you must keep in mind is that ending an existing relationship solely because one feels one has found one's twin soul is never a good idea, because over time you will realize that both associations are meant to be and both have an important role in your life.

An interesting aspect of the companion soul mate relationship is that we put more of our energies into it. The karmic soul mate relationship tends to go at an easy pace, without much effort from either partner, as it does with twin souls. The companion soul mate bond requires more work on our parts to sustain a healthy, loving atmosphere.

TWIN FLAMES

This is the highest form of soul mate connection. Your twin soul is your other half; to find your twin soul is like finding yourself. We go through our life searching and searching, and what we don’t realize is that we are looking for someone just like us. Sometimes, we find them in this life and, other times, in other lives.

I believe they are always around, but for some reason it is not apparent. Perhaps we close our eyes to them. We don’t listen and observe. We go through life at such a hectic pace we don’t stop and take in things that would otherwise be apparent, so the presence of a soul mate could hit us flat in the face and we wouldn’t even know it. This is sad, because we have missed that one, rare opportunity for total bliss and happiness.

IDENTIFYING A SOUL MATE RELATIONSHIP

In order to find your soul mate, you must know what to look for. I have compiled the ten most important traits in recognizing your soul mate. Read them to help you decide who your own soul mate(s) is.

ACCEPTANCE

Your soul mate must accept you for who you are. He or she must accept your weaknesses as well as your strengths. Your soul mate does not try to change you, nor do you try to change them. He or she lets you be yourself, for the more you are yourself, the stronger your bond with your soul mate has a chance of becoming.

ENCOURAGEMENT

Your soul mate makes you feel good about yourself. He or she never criticizes, only encourages. If they cannot do this, then they are not your soul mate.

· NURTURING

Your soul mate cares about you and what happens to you. He is the first to be by your side in accomplishment and defeat. She picks you up when others throw you down. He nurtures your spirit so you can roll with the punches, no matter where they fall.

FRIENDSHIP

Your soul mate is your best friend in the entire world. She or he laughs with you, cries with you, sings with you. They are there for you when life throws you those bad curves; they are there for you when you surpass your highest expectations of yourself. A soul mate will understand you and give you what you want and need without hesitation. She will make you feel at home, comfortable and at ease.

As you would with any friend, take the relationship slow. Savor each milestone of firsts: the first time your eyes meet, the first time his lips brush against yours, the first afternoon spent together walking through the park or along the seashore or even just in your own backyard. You have to remember that if you end up together, these “firsts” will be ingrained in your memory forever. Cherish them.

GENEROSITY

Your soul mate is generous. He gives freely of his time and his possessions. She will ditch whatever she is doing to be with you. He will give you your heart’s desires. She will give you her heart and soul, if need be.

CONVERSATIONALIST

Soul mates are interested in what each other have to say. My soul mate and I would spend hours contemplating the mysteries of the universe. Since we thought alike, we never did stop talking. We talked about our past, our present and our future. As we had so many things in common, each of us was interested in what the other had to say.

PREMONITIONS

You may have premonitions of your future soul mate in dreams. Whether they are when you are asleep or when you are in meditation, you will picture your soul mate as if he or she were standing in front of you. You will note the color of their hair, the sound of their voice, their way of walking. You will picture your soul mate as you want them to be. If you are fortunate enough to be able to do this—and it can happen anytime, anywhere—remember it. For, in time, your soul mate will appear in front of you just as you envisioned.

POSITIVE KARMA

One of the main ingredients for a successful soul mate relationship lies in the power of karma. In layman’s terms, karma is basically the theory that whatever you do, there will be another event to follow that is directly consequential to your actions. Therefore, the law of karma teaches us that what we do today may come back to haunt us tomorrow. How does this apply to the soul mate phenomenon?

If you are in a bad relationship, and you continue to remain in that relationship, you are setting up a path of bad karma for yourself because of the negative energies that arise. Once you learn to set up a shield against this negativity, good karma will infiltrate your life and open your soul to a promising and healthy soul mate relationship.

Not until this happens will you ever receive a satisfactory soul mate union. Both parties must bring good karma into the relationship. You have to remember that we are all souls, just pure energy “visiting” this planet; and we have been here many times. Neither partner can come from a place where negativity is present, or the soul mate experience just won’t occur..

SPIRITUAL CONNECTION

You will feel a connection with your soul mate, as if you had known him or her before. You will feel an energy radiating between you. You will look into each other’s eyes and see each other’s soul, for that is where the true soul mate connection lies.

Not enough can be said about the spiritual connection between soul mates. It is the most important quality in a soul mate relationship. You will feel this in the depths of your heart and soul. Without it, the soul mate relationship is doomed.

UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

Your soul mate will love you more than anything or anyone he has loved in his entire life, although he will give you freedom to be who you are. “You cannot possess a soul mate any more than you can possess a person in your physical world,” says Robert Egby, author of Thank You For The Flowers. “Soul mates are free and must always be so. Love cannot be possessed or controlled. Soul mates are together because they share an unconditional love, a mutual vibration. There are no exceptions.”

PERFECT TIMING

Other things come into play in seeking your soul mate that you might not count on. One is perfect timing. If it isn’t the right time for you and your soul mate to be together, it will likely not happen.

DO YOU ONLY HAVE ONE SOUL MATE?

I have learned in doing research for this book that many people do not believe in soul mates. They say they have searched and searched for the one person who will make them happy, and have given up. They have come to the conclusion they do not believe there is one, and only one, person who is perfect for them.

They are absolutely right. There is no one person who is your soul mate because, as I noted earlier, there are at least three types of soul mates. Those who do not believe at all are missing an important part of their life experience, for it is our search for our soul mate that makes our spiritual journey complete.

The bottom line is, don’t give up. Our soul mates are out there. Perhaps, they are right under our noses and we don’t even realize it.

Dorothy Thompson's book, ROMANCING THE SOUL - TRUE STORIES OF SOUL MATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD AND BEYOND is coming soon from Zumaya Publications.

Currently Watching Kill Bill, Volume 1 By Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, Daryl Hannah, David Carradine, Michael Madsen see related

*borrowed recommendation from amber's site: http://www.insightsworld.com/?page=hp/about/system/mycolour {hmm, my colour? fiery red. . .}

also amused my sleepy self this a.m. with another interesting quiz:

Also known widely as the Fire Bird, the phoenix is a profound symbol of life and rebirth. It has a life cycle of 500 to 600 years and after that amount of time, it sets itself on fire and dies in the flames. Then, after three days, it rises again from the ashes. It is a completely benign creature who lives in dew. It is said that the phoenix has a beautiful melodious song which grows ever more mournful as its life comes to an end. It is also a symbol of the sun and immortality.
                            What mythical beast best represents you?

                       http://www.yayajon.com/watercircle/beastquiz.html

                                             Take the quiz!

Currently Playing Screamin for My Supper By Beth Hart see related

- just a little hole

renting today: http://takinglives.warnerbros.com/

""now i can't see. . . i just stare. . ."" -pearl jam

yesterday i said i'd post the dream that was related to yesterday's blog.  i've been rummaging through journals for over an hour now and still can't find it.  this is what happens when journals aren't dated. . .   however, i don't need the journal as a reference to recall the most impactful sequences of it.

fragments of repetition had emerged for nights prior to the dream's complete erruption.  there was a ""blue woman"" who was chasing me through a house of eight or nine rooms, none distinguished from another except for being seperated by walls/archways.  each time i believed i had escaped her view, she would descend from a chimney ahead of me.  i didn't stand there long enough to see her face, just vaguely glanced at the blue legs dangling above an empty fireplace.  maybe it was the chase, maybe the many rooms within this gray house or the faceless sea of people crowding the entrance {all apparently not seeing me, as they had been nonchalant toward my frantic presence}; nonetheless, traveling through the dream felt like being trapped in a maze with no compass.  this continued for about three or four nights.  i remember resisting sleep due to it, as there were fireplaces in both our bedroom and living room at the time. . . yet somewhere amidst my fear of the ""blue woman,"" i was contemplating who she was. . what she meant. . .  after all, this was a repetitive dream.  how could i make it stop?  i'd recently been discussing lucid dreaming with a friend and found it frustrating that i had no experience collaborating consciousness with unconsciousness to willfully direct my dreams.

my closest experience with lucid dreaming came soon thereafter.  the dream had again repeated the chase, without interruption . . and for the last time.  when the ""blue woman"" fell from the chimney that night, i was immediately confronted with nose-to-nose proximity, now showing her yellow hair as well.

all it took was one word for the rest to occur:

""no""

she turned from me and simply walked away.

i wandered into a nearby room, no longer running and able to look without passing blurry visions.  the ""affair"" took place in a filthy room. . shadows, dust, broken furnishings, the air was thick. . .  i noticed my sister sitting on a white veiled chair in the corner, telling me {without words} she'd been waiting for me to sleep on her lap.  it was initially the only light in the room. . and it wasn't coming from lamps.  familiar with in all my psychic-related dreams, i soon noticed candles upon sitting with her.  {candles are one signal for me. . another is that i'm not the main focus of the dream, similar to being on stage crew for a theatre production.  the other "psychic sense" is the feel of the dream; it's not an intoxication. . although it's as if i'm being shielded from what's happening.}

the candle-light revealed my partner, fucking a {yes, there is no other way to describe her. . } skanky maid in the kitchen.  her underwear was stained, she had body odor. . even my partner's face prior to him noticing my presence was ridden with disgust.  i rose from my sister's lap and headed toward the door.  he hurdled a couch, reaching for me.

"". .but i love you. . .""

it would be nine months until he admitted anything to me.

who was the ""blue woman"" with yellow hair?  my fear of the truth.  telling her ""no"" was my way of ending the denial.

why was the woman he fucked portrayed as a maid?  i'm still astonished by this detail.  how filthy does one allow her/his surroundings to become before there's a need to "clean" the mess?  granted, she was scummy, contributing to a house full of additional dirt. . yet was this also an indication it could have all been cleaned by such a horrendous mistake?

cleaning helps ground me.  at the same time, it's one of those bitches that's NEVER ""completed"" {*sighs*  much like inner-work. . .}.  on that note, guess what's next on my agenda?

Currently Playing Nevermind By Nirvana see related

- lounge act

"". .because you let him. . .""

being a former massochist, i now take responsibility for my mistakes without perseverating on unnecessary self-torment.  one morning last week i was greeted online with an article from msn: 7 reasons men cheat.†  i thought, ""pfft, don't tell me~ i already know what was involved. .""  yet i still felt compelled to read further, as events over some time have been emphasizing my ""trust issues"" and i don't believe in mere coincidences.

"". .because you let him. . . "" read the seventh reason.

""what was i DOING to 'let him'?"" i spit.

i remember investing most of my time in lesson plans/games/reading & writing in my students' journals and starting a book that had taunted me for months.  the rapist came to me through nightmares {which, in retrospect, now tell me the alarms were blaring to pay attention to surrounding elements} and severe anxiety.  most of the time spent writing it was a blur. .   that's what happens when i write. .  the concept of time is even a theme of the book because i then felt i had no control over being vacuumed into the past.

"". .because you let him. . .""

had i been self-consumed?

umm, yeah.

remembering THE night it happened {even though i didn't have confirmation until nine months later}, i didn't go to a gig with him because it was soooo long since i'd had a night to spend alone.  i showered, lounged around sipping wine in my bathrobe, watched a natalie merchant concert on video, and just sobbed for hours.  december and january can be full of potholes in my traveling through them,  as my birthday inevitably reminds me most strongly of my twin sister.  by the time twin peaks: fire walk with me soundtrack © was playing ""questions in a world of blue,"" i had lost any sense of ""purpose."" {yet another area the massochist in me emerges: i often feel the need to live a life twice as full because she is not in physicality}.  i felt her there, yet sensed someone was dying.  despite having ""birthed my own deaths,"" i knew it wasn't me.

"". .because you let him. . ."" 

i was both relieved and stunned when he walked through the door hours later than what we usually came home from his gigs.  i'd just spent the entire night, unable to call him, concerned that he'd have a fatal car accident.  {i trust -not my fears- my intuition.}  i heard him pass the bedroom and get into the shower. . then was able to finally zonk.

"". .because you let him. . .""

i'm sure this speaks volumes: i don't remember much thereafter. . at least, anything changing aside from work continuing for both of us, our thursday-night gatherings with friends, diving deeper into writing the rapist, and him recording more songs.

"". .because you let him. . .""

i'd noticed he had become more easily irritated. . possibly could have been due to long hours, responsibilities, and co-workers. .  he was either distant or furious when approached. .  his music was becoming less meditative and more livid, both instrumentally and in lyrics. .  "artists experiment," i remember telling myself, also including the fact that he worships trent reznor, whose style he had seemed to emulate.

""because you let him. . .""

one night we'd watched an episode of temptation island© and the couple was contending with infidelity.  the unfaithful partner had confessed, admitted the mistake and asked for forgiveness, declaring love for his girlfriend. 

my partner's response to the person on television?

""too little, too late. . .""

he got up from the chair and walked out of the room. 

""you don't think they can work through that?"" i remember asking him.

""oh, RIGHT~ like she'll forgive him.  you'll see.""

""y'know. . "" i tried lightening the tension without dismissing my own concern at the time, "" i had this dream a while ago. . ."" ‡

he listened with stone expression. . until i mentioned his cheating in my dream.

""YOU AND YOUR FUCKING PSYCHOTIC DREAMS!  DID YOU EVER THINK THAT MAYBE IT'S NOT THAT YOU'RE PSYCHIC BUT THAT YOU'RE JUST FUCKING CRAZY???!!!""

i knew i wasn't crazy. .  had he no reason to feel guilt, he would have chuckled at the dream.  we BOTH would have, as i am able to tell the difference between my intuition and inner-work dreaming.  i couldn't take the denial any longer. .  one of my book's main characters was throwing that issue in my face everytime ""she"" had something to say to me.

"". .because you let him. . .""

he left, slamming the door behind him.  i never got to tell him how the dream ended.

like the man on the television, he had reached for me in the dream in a state of panic, insisting, ""but i love you"" when i discovered what he had done.  the details of the dream concentrated on how dark the experience had been for him. . and i knew it wasn't something he was boasting or wanted more of. 

"". .because i let him. . .""

had i driven him to that place?  no, he drove himself. . or did he?

had he the ability to NOT be drunk? of course. . so why was he?

to say NO? absolutely. . why didn't he?

may sound ""dramatic"" to some. . symbolically speaking, it's no coincidence we were then living in what used to be an old funeral home.  our relationship with each other was dead.  it had been for some time.

why did i stay?

two predominate reasons: fear. . fear of what he would do to himself had i not forgiven him {i knew he was suicidal at the time}

""but i love you. . "" i had seen the desperation on his face in the dream -felt his pain, his remorse, his shame, his anger. . .  

he didn't cheat me; he had been unfaithful to himself.

am i still angry? sometimes. .  i find my occassional skepticism frustrating, thinking others will do what has already been done to me.  i have to keep reminding myself not to make assumptions based on others' actions.  i've learned that i can turn skepticism into cynicism, which requires evidence to lead me to belief rather than hasty judgements and stagnation.

am i still afraid? yes. . moreso of myself and whether or not i'm doing what's best for all involved in situations.  is my time and attention being fairly distributed or am i being self-absorbed?  will i ever feel i have "enough" evidence to convince me to believe?  will i spend my time strangling risk in order to regain control over what affects me?  will i regret the "what if"s i don't contemplate or see through. . . ?  will i feel safe again and able to let my guard down?   

hmm. . .     

† note: while msn focused on "men" in this article, my curiosity remains regarding the implicated gender, as {obviously. . .} women are capable of the same. i wish i had copied it to paste here; i don't recall it containing any gender-specific rationale behind this title.

‡ i will post this dream either later today or as tomorrow's blog.