Soulmates, but Make Them Platonic🤍

Happy Thursday everybody! As I'm sure we are all acutely aware, Valentine's Day is approaching on Saturday, February 14. This holiday may bring up various emotions depending on your current or past romantic situations. I personally have always enjoyed Valentine's Day. I remember in high school my best friend and I used to wear pink and red for an entire week, and I would buy candy and walk around the halls handing it out to people because everybody deserves free candy regardless of whether or not they have a Valentine. As I've gotten older (and I will admit more cynical) my excitement around Valentine's Day has dwindled a little bit. It seems like everywhere you turn during the month of February you'll never be able to ignore this holiday. I'm running the risk of making this blog sound bitter with my next statement but, I am not 100% sure I believe in romantic soulmates. Now let me quickly rectify this by saying I 100% do believe in platonic soulmates. So, in the spirit of Valentine's Day, this blog will be a love letter to the love that has stuck beside me my entire life: platonic love!

I am the kind of person who values all of her friendships very deeply. So many of my deep and meaningful connections are ones that sort of just happened randomly. When I say "randomly" I'm talking about asking for boy advice at a basketball game, trauma dumping on a bus ride, getting lost in the dorms, or bonding during volleyball practice. Through all of these situations (and a few more) I was able to form friendships that I will cherish forever. Some of my other friendships were formed basically since birth and are still extremely strong connections to this day.

Through every single close friendship that I've made, I've learned something. I've learned things about myself, but I've also learned what I would look for in a partner. There is a saying that you should "marry your best friend". I would like to add onto this and say that you should also marry somebody that has the qualities you look for when it comes to your best friends. I strongly believe that we are reflections of the people that we choose to hang around, and my closest friends possess such amazing qualities. They are funny, attentive to my feelings, out-going, smart, and extremely kind. Romantic relationships may come and go, but the love that I feel from my friends, to me, is truly one of a kind.

I'm not 100% sure I believe that every single connection that we make in life is supposed to teach us a lesson. I think some people may just come into our life for a short period of time for nothing other than either a couple good memories or wasting your time. It's the relationships that come into your life and choose to stay, that leave us with a lasting impact. I know that unconditional love exists because my friends have shown it to me. Now, this may not be the love that is up to the "Valentine's Day standard", but to me I think it's even better.

So, do I believe in soulmates? Truthfully, if you would have asked me maybe 4 years ago I might have said yes. My answer now is: if platonic soulmates count, then abso-freaking-lutely. When it comes to love they say "when you know you know" and that is exactly how I feel about my friends, I just knew.

I hope that no matter where you are on Valentine's Day this year that you are able to feel love in any capacity. Everybody is deserving of love and I do believe that love is all around us. We may just need to reevaluate what kind of love we are looking for in order to see it.

Once again, happy Thursday & I hope that whatever your plans may be for Valentine's Day, that you eat some candy and have a super amazing day!

With so much love,

~Side Note xoxo 💋