SoCS: Twin Flames, Soulmates, Dogs, and Cats

I had a great time collecting and arranging these leaves

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “twin/tween.” Use, “twin” or “tween” any way you’d like. Bonus points if you use both. Enjoy!

A twin flame is a person (could it be an animal?) who shares your soul. Like the soul split into two bodies. That’s what I read somewhere. No scientific evidence to support this. Sounds kind of mythical. That doesn’t mean it’s not true. Afterall, anything is possible. Twin flames are said to share many qualities mirrored in one another. They also may share past traumas.

Excuse me, but I don’t really want to share a soul with someone. I much prefer the concept of soulmates. One difference between twin flames and soulmates, besides soulmates having their own souls, is that soulmates are not twins. They definitely have a lot in common, but not like twin flames.

My soulmate David and I just celebrated our ten-year wedding anniversary on December 1st. This is my second marriage and David’s third, so ten years gives me hope. Of course, the fact that we were high school sweethearts reunited when the time was perfect also gives me hope. I appreciate how he supports me and also gives me space, how he loves dogs and has come to love Mama Cat, too. We have a lot in common, but our differences complement each other well.

Meeting your twin flame could be exciting and helpful. A twin flame does not have to be romantic. It can be platonic or intellectual. To be honest, I’m no expert on twin flames, so feel free to add alternative information or ideas. From what I recall, a person only has one twin flame, but can have multiple soulmates (maybe not at the same time which could be complicated.) I’m okay with not having a twin flame, but I’m very happy to have a soulmate.

As I type this, Mama Cat is lying next to me on the couch making me wonder if a person could have a cat or a dog as a soulmate. They certainly can be good companions. When David and I reconnected in 2011, we had five dogs between us. That was quite a pack in our little bungalow. That’s what happens when you manifest your soulmate “must love dogs.” In our ten years together, each member of the five pack has crossed over the rainbow bridge. We’ll see them again and won’t need leashes.

Soulmates with the original “Five Pack.”

We’ve had Marley for one year now and brought Mama Cat home from the church about two years ago. They are part of our family, though they have limited contact with each other under close supervision.

It’s unlikely that a dog and a cat could be twin flames, but soulmates maybe. Anything’s possible!

Marley with heart of leaves

Mama Cat watching squirrels from the catio.

Marley staying in “PLACE.”

~~~

For details on Stream of Consciousness Saturday, and lots more streams,

visit out host, Linda G. Hill by clicking HERE.

When I Stopped Looking, Love Found Me

Today’s prompt for Just Jot it January is, “Looking.” Thanks, for the prompt, Di. And thanks to our host, Linda Hill, for keeping the January Jotting going!

The first thing that came to mind was when I decided to stop looking for my soul mate. It was the year 2011, in January. What if it was January 20? That would be a hoot. I’d been married for 20 years and divorced for about 10. There were two unhealthy, stressful relationships followed by five years of unplanned celibacy when I wondered why no one interesting was interested in me. I had described to God what I was looking for, but it wasn’t happening.

The on-line dating scene was not working at all, and neither was going to community events where I hoped to find someone with common interests. But maybe the community events were working in the sense that I was going for me and reclaiming my interests as well as meeting new friends with common interests.

So, in January of 2011, I was looking at some on-line dating site and got disgusted with shallow, adolescent minded men my age looking for younger women. I tried to be cynical, but that only worked sometimes. I promised myself that I would stop looking, especially online, until my daughter graduated from high school in June. Then maybe I’d have some adventures of my own.

The two of us took a mother-daughter trip by train to my hometown of Washington DC. We stayed with friends, rode the subway and went to museums. My daughter graduated on the first Saturday in June. On the Monday after that, I found a Facebook message from my long-lost high school sweetheart. It had been 39 years since we’d had any contact. He’d been living in New England all that time and was working as a fire fighter/EMT. More importantly, he had three dogs! Must love dogs was on the top of my soulmate list!

Well, to fast forward, we got married on December 1, 2012. (We thought about 12/12/12, but that was a Wednesday.) Want to read the whole story? Click on my book cover for Trust the Timing, on the right side bar above.

1972

2011 Second First Date

December 1, 2012

Must Love Dogs

2016

2018

For more Just Jot January posts, go looking at Linda’s blog HERE.

One-Liner Wednesday: Timing and Joy

“In God’s good plan, there is a reason why today is not tomorrow.”

Curtis Almquist

Sometimes we wonder what’s taking so long.

In The Twelve Days of Christmas, Curtis Almquist writes “We need the provisions of today to prepare us to receive the promises of tomorrow.”  He writes about how joy takes time, acceptance, and desire.

This reaffirms my story.

Ten years ago, I’d look up at the stars in my backyard and ask, “Is there someone out there for me? Don’t I deserve to be happy?”

The answer was yes. But first, I had to learn to be happy with me.

It took 39 years for my soulmate to find me again. We needed every one of those years, with their provisions and lessons, to become ready to journey together.

 

My wish for each of us is that we find joy in the gifts of today.

 

…

For more one-liners, or to join in, visit our host, Linda Hill at:

https://lindaghill.com/2019/12/18/one-liner-wednesday-mugshot/

Here are the guidelines:

1. Make it one sentence.

2. Try to make it either funny or inspirational.

3. Use our unique tag #1linerWeds.

4. Add our lovely badge to your post for extra exposure!

5. Have fun!

 

SoCS Take Two: Framing My Heart’s Desires

Today’s prompt for the stream of consciousness is, “frame.” We can use it as a noun or a verb and we are to have fun!

I have to start over. Last night I worked on my SoCS post. The stream took me somewhere I don’t want to go yet. Then I started to edit. I couldn’t help myself. Just a little tweak here. And a little tweak there. And then I realized, this topic is better left for another time when I can edit at will. So here we go again with take two.

Frame. Frames. I buy a lot of my frames at thrift stores. I’ll see a cool frame without a plan sometimes for it, but I’m trying to get away from that. One frame I did have a plan for that I got at a thrift store for probably 75 cents had some mass produced art in it. I took that out. It’s not always easy to find a square frame the right size, but I needed one for my collage, the one that brought my soul mate back to me.

This is one of the collages I’ve done at the beginning of each year. There are several, but this is my favorite. It has no words like the others, except that I wrote 2011 on the easel on the left. On the right is a man walking toward the woman who looks kinda like me. He’s in the distance and coming out of the darkness toward the yellow flowers.  It was in 2011 that David found me again, my first love come back after 39 years when the time was perfect. I hope you’re not tired of hearing about that. Anyway, I like the frame, and now the collage is hanging in our bedroom where it should be.

The collage was made from magazine pictures. I hope this is not an infringement to post them here and apologize if I’m using some one else’s images, but they all worked miracles in my life, so thank you. I will be happy to give you credit for your images if you let me know.

I put the owl up there, because I needed wisdom to not just follow my urges based on loneliness. “Follow your heart, but take your brain with you,” as the saying goes. I needed that owl’s help to make sure.  Now, art and nature are coming back into my life. Maybe art and nature are my original first loves that will always be with me.

What do you want to manifest in your life? Have you ever made a collage or other creative work of your hearts desires? It works! Not always right away, but focus on what you love and desire, and the good things will come. Trust the timing and get ready!

…

For more info on Stream of Consciousness Saturday, visit Linda G. Hill at:

https://lindaghill.com/2019/07/19/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-july-20-19/

Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing (typos can be fixed), and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. I will post the prompt here on my blog every Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The,’” or will simply be a single word to get you started.

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours. Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read all of them! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later or go to the previous week by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.

8. Have fun!

Calling a Soulmate (Or Any Heart’s Desire)

“Use the word, call or any word that contains those letters in that order.” That’s our prompt for today’s Stream of Consciousness.

“Calling Your Soulmate Home” was the title of my work in progress, but since it’s a How to book, I’m probably going with, How to Find Your Soulmate While Loving Yourself. It’s the short (recipe) version of Trust the Timing, the recipe I didn’t plan, but the one that worked to bring my soulmate home to me.

Calling your soulmate home sounds like he left and you want him to come back, like he just went out for a while and you’re calling him home for dinner. So, Finding Your Soulmate might be easier to understand as a title.

Here’s a quick preview of the table of contents:

Clarify Your Heart’s Desires

Request Help from the Divine

Learn to Love Yourself

Focus on Friendship

Imagine the Best

It’ll be a short book, like I said, a recipe that worked for me. But it could also work for other things besides finding (or calling home) a soulmate. It could work for finding the best job, a new home, peace of mind, whatever your heart desires most.

It took  a while for my soulmate to hear my call, for him to find me, but that’s because we were both still getting ready – learning the lessons we needed to learn – to work on our stuff together. Sometimes it takes a while for the call to reach the one and for the one to be ready.

Today’s prompt also conjured up this musical. I remember my parent’s watching it when I was a young child and thought it was the corniest thing. Maybe I wasn’t that young if I thought it was corny. Anyway, they must have watched it more than once because it sure stuck in my head. I think the following version is from a re-make of the original black and white movie, Rose Marie. I like the setting. And today, I can appreciate their voices, even though I don’t usually like opera. It’s more of a musical than an opera.

For more Streams of Consciousness, or to add your own stream, visit our host, Linda Hill by clicking the link below:

https://lindaghill.com/2018/08/03/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-august-4-18/

Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing (typos can be fixed), and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. I will post the prompt here on my blog every Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The,’” or will simply be a single word to get you started.

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours. Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read all of them! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later or go to the previous week by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.

8. Have fun!

Soulmates: Finding a Good Fit

Since I often use the word, soulmate, That Girl’s post: The Soulmate Phenomenon, grabbed my attention. It got me thinking about the word, “soulmate,” which can mean different things to different people. I never liked the expression, “my other half,” or “my better half.” I am not half a person. My soul was okay without a human partner,  especially having human and animal friends who loved me. Yet, at times, I did feel like something was missing. I considered that annoying void carefully.  If my soulmate was still out there, I didn’t want to get side tracked (again) by an impostor. I clarified what qualities my soulmate would have.

Here are some things I’ve learned about soulmates:

What is a soulmate? The word, soulmate sounds romantic, but for me, it goes beyond romance. It’s someone who is a good fit – not just physically, but mentally and spiritually. My soulmate is someone who nourishes my soul, my true self, the part of me that will live on into eternity. My soulmate was meant for me. He gets me.

Who Can it Be? Can we have more than one soulmate?  I believe so. I probably thought my first husband was my soulmate. At first we were a good fit. But in the twenty years we were married, we both changed and grew in different directions. I think I changed more than he did. He would probably agree, but I wouldn’t swear to it. My soul was pretty shaken when he left. After that, I had a much deeper appreciation for my friends. It’s possible that a close friend or relative  could be a soulmate.

When is he (or she) going to get here? A soulmate comes when we are ready. He or she may leave and come back again. The man I am now married to was my first love. We dated for less than a year, then he was gone – a sweet memory for 39 years – until the time was right. Though he says it would not have worked out when we were younger, we are clearly a good fit, now. He nourishes my soul. He feels like my soulmate. Maybe he’s my super soulmate.

Why Care? It’s different for everyone, but having a partner or close friend to share life with is a comfort, and in many cases, increases longevity, as long as that person is a good fit, someone who respects you and doesn’t add constant stress to your life. Being with someone who understands and nurtures us, improves the quality of life. Soulmates encourage healthy growth and well being in one another.

How to find one? In my April newsletter, I’ll be sharing about the five steps I took that helped my soulmate find me. Here’s the overview:

• Clarify desires
• Turn it over
• Work on YOU
• Focus on friendship
• Imagine!

For details coming next week, sign up for my monthly newsletter at the sidebar on the right.

Or just click here:  http://eepurl.com/cLDxdD

What are your thoughts about soulmates?  Do you think we can have more than one?

Answered Prayers

“If you could send me a soulmate who’s a good fit before Dad and Jesse die, I’d really appreciate it.”

That was a prayer I said to God somewhere around 2010. It went something like that, anyway.

The second part of the prayer was, “If you want me to stay single, then take away this desire for a partner.

It was five years ago, on July 15, 2011, that I had my second first date with the love of my life, my high school sweetheart who found me after 39 years of no contact.

Jesse, my golden retriever, passed away a couple years ago, and the soulmate who is definitely a good fit, helped me get through that.

This is one of the things I imagine Jesse doing in heaven.

Dad is still alive and strong in spirit. His legs are giving him a lot of trouble, and at 85, his body is wearing out as bodies are known to do.

I’m so thankful to God for bringing my partner to me when the time was perfect. I was ready to accept staying single if that was what God wanted. I knew I could accomplish a lot of good things being single, once I finally learned to not fall for anyone who asked me out, once I learned to love and honor myself enough to know I did not need a man to complete me. But God knew my loneliness and did not take away the desire. God brought my husband to me when we were both ready.

If I’d known then, what I know now, I would have worried less, but then I would not have grown as much faith – faith that still has some growing to do.

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday was: “if/then.” We were to begin our post with the word “If,” and for bonus points, end with a phrase containing the word “then.”

If you want to read more Stream of Consciousness writing, then visit Linda’s blog:

https://lindaghill.com/2016/07/15/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-july-1616/

Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The’,” or simply a single word to get your started.

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours.  Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.

8. Have fun!

Thirty Nine Years Later

It had been 39 years since we’d seen each other.

When I heard his voice on the phone, he sounded very different from the 15 year old boyfriend I remembered. I didn’t remember him having an accent. I guess 39 years of living back home in New England can do that.

When I’d last seen him, it was 1972. He was tall and lean with sensitive hazel eyes like mine. I can imagine the scene. Him in his jeans with the battery acid holes and his leather jacket, or the olive military field jacket. His hair in his eyes just a little bit. Humming Jethro Tull. Working on a motorcycle.

                                 

When we met again in 2011, he looked different. Still tall, but filled out nicely. Silvery hair, slightly, handsomely weathered. My heart was beating like a set of bongos. I bet his was too. 🙂

The smell of my soul mate was intoxicating. My body remembered, without even consciously knowing that it remembered. It was my first love. Back again after all those years.

We had both seen tears and years of disappointment, overcoming life’s hills and mountains, journeying the long and winding road back. We had no idea this was part of the plan. This reunion. This grand surprise, ripening when the time was finally right for us to journey together on new adventures!

You never know what wonderful surprises are on the way. Anything is Possible!

The prompt for this week’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday Post was: scene/seen.  If you’d like to join in the fun, visit:

http://lindaghill.com/2015/01/30/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-january-3115/

Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” or “Begin with the word ‘The’.”

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours.  Your link will show up in my comments, for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. Have fun!

The Nose Knows (and other body parts too)

Our bodies can sense things. Like dogs sense things all the time, because they don’t have so much clutter in their brains crowding out their common sense. It made no sense at all for me to be with someone like the scoundrel I dated right after my divorce became final, something like 13 years ago. My body knew he was all wrong for me. My body sent me messages via mysterious female ailments that wouldn’t get better until sometime after I came to my senses.

I suppose I should be thankful, and I am, that my body has gotten better at sending me messages that something’s not right. When I sense the scratchy roughness of acid reflux, or the tightness in my gut, I realize I’ve been stressed lately and need to relax, to breathe fresh air. When my muscles are tense, my body sends me the message I might need to rest, though more than likely, I need to stretch.

When my soul mate and I met again in person, after 39 years, my senses were aroused in a way I had not felt in a very long time. We’d re-connected on-line and had been talking on the phone for about a month, but when I saw him for real, and touched his skin, when I picked up his scent again, my body knew something important and good was happening.

His scent fascinated me. As I leaned against him on my living room couch, my nose was drawn to drift above his collar to his neck.  As I inhaled deeply, the barely noticeable, natural aroma of his skin intoxicated me.  It was the scent of my first love, imprinted on my memory when I was 16 years old.

My body never forgot his scent, even after 39 years.

My body knew he was my soul mate, who’d come back again when the time was right.

It took a while for my mind to agree, but my body knew.

December 1st, is our anniversary. We will have been married for two whole years, and his scent still delights my senses.

 

Today’s Stream of Consciousness prompt was: “sense/scents/cents,” with a bonus word this week – “sent.” If you’d like to join us, visit:

http://lindaghill.com/2014/11/28/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-november-2914/

Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” or “Begin with the word ‘The’.”

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours.  Your link will show up in my comments, for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. Have fun!

The Magic of Gratitude

This photo is brought to you from pixabay.com with Gratitude.

 

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
― Melody Beattie

This is one of my favorite quotes by one of my favorite writers.  It originally came to me from her book, The Language of Letting Go, Daily Meditations for Codependents, in the meditation for August 1st.

Why August instead of later November? Because we need the magic of gratitude every day.

She goes on to write:

“Gratitude makes things right. Gratitude turns negative energy into positive energy. There is no situation or circumstance so small or large that it is not susceptible to gratitude’s  power. We can start with who we are and what we have today, apply gratitude, then let it work it’s magic.”

Is it possible that something as simple as gratitude can be so powerful?

 I believe so.

After I stopped asking why I couldn’t couldn’t find the right partner,

After I started to thank God for blessings, including the mystery ones on the way,

My soul mate came back to me.

Blessings are on the way!

Give thanks!

I’m thankful for my soul mate.

I’m thankful for good health.

I’m thankful to have time to write and paint.

I’m thankful for the blessings on the way!