M.
F. E. O.
(Maybe
Fate Errs Occasionally)
by
Janjan Perez
I have long suspected that I do not have a soul mate.
New Age teachings and Hollywood love stories go on to tell us that somewhere out there, there is that perfect someone who was tailor-made and custom-fitted to be a perfect match to you. They go on to make us believe that no matter what our circumstances, nor whatever distance separates us from our soul mates, we would end up inevitably with each other someday... somewhere.
Maybe that's true. Maybe somewhere out there, there is that someone whom I was supposed to end up with... someone who is supposed to help me achieve nirvana or some such miracle. But then again, maybe that is all a lie... maybe it is some cheap marketing ploy to sell New Age books or to boost Tom Hank's popularity ratings.
All I know is that in my 22 years of existence, I have yet to find that perfect someone.
Perfection is so hard to achieve. If all those soul-mate theories are true, then how come there are so many broken marriages in the world? How can it be then that despite the rapid population growth in the Philippines and elsewhere in the world, there are still so many lonely people roaming the place... looking for love in all the unlikely places? Are we deluding ourselves into believing that we should hold out for someone who doesn't exist? Are we really that foolhardy to rely on our dreams and our hopes... like some desperate Ally Mcbeal pining for truths that don't really come true?
Let me press my point... maybe all this soul-mate things happen to other people, well and good, but it's not happening to me. It hasn't happened to anyone that I know of personally and it really hasn't occurred before my very eyes, save what I see in the movies and on comedy shows.
Somewhere out there... is there really someone who was meant for me, and I for her?
Maybe not.
That brings me to an interesting side point... if there really is such a thing as a soul mate, will that soul mate necessarily be of the opposite sex? What if my soul mate was... (gasp!) another guy? What if YOUR soul mate were of the same sex as you are? What if you weren't gay? What would you do? For that matter, what would I do?
Regardless of who or of what gender my soul mate is, I would be genuinely amazed to find out that I do have one. That is assuming of course, that I would recognize that person for who she or he might be... my soul mate. How would you know? Will that person just pop right in front of your face and tell you, "Hi, I'm your soul mate!" Will he or she come while you're out relaxing somewhere, eating Shawarma or something? Will you have a breath mint when that happens? What if you do find that soul mate and just lose her/him all on account of onions and God knows what else on your breath?
All this soul mate business is a pretty messed-up deal.
Well, despite all my cynicism and rational doubt, I would like to buy into that whole deal... messes and confusions included. I don't think I've got anything to lose if I were to believe that somewhere out there in this wide crazy planet, the cosmic Fates have designated and custom-manufactured someone to be the tailor-fit complement to me. I would really like to find out in the long run that indeed, miracles do happen and that if you are lucky, you can indeed live happily ever after with that one true thing... that one person that you love and who would love you right back.
That would be nice.
Assuming of course that my soul mate isn't another guy.