Have you ever met someone, and from that first moment you knew there was something special about them? Your friendship formed quickly and easily, and from the start you felt like they knew you better than anyone ever could. You may have just met an Anam Cara.
Anam Cara is the Gaelic term for a soul friend. It is much more than just a regular friendship – the Anam Cara friendship is deep and transcendent. An Anam Cara knows your thoughts, your feelings, your past and your present sometimes better than you do.
At one time or another we have all felt lonely or isolated. We have all had times were we felt misunderstood; standing on the outside looking in, just longing to belong. The Anam Cara eases that feeling of loneliness and isolation. Our Anam Cara understands us at a deep, spiritual level, and reminds us that we are never alone. They provide shelter from the storm and a light in the darkest of places.
Our Anam Cara is not necessarily our spouse, or partner (though they can be). Frequently our Anam Cara is our gender, and fills the role of a best friend and confidant. This can really be quite a relief for our significant other, who won’t be expected to fill our every need! An Anam Cara may be a life time friend, who appears to us in childhood and stays with us throughout the years. Or they may appear later in life to accompany us on our journey. They may stay for years, or go out with the tide. However long they stay, their presence is a gift and a blessing.
And just as we are blessed by this relationship, so they are blessed too, because we, also, are an Anam Cara.
A Friendship Blessing
From “Anam Cara” By John O’Donohue
May you be blessed with good friends.
May you learn to be a good friend to yourself.
May you be able to journey to that place in your soul where there is great love, warmth, feeling, and forgiveness.
May this change you.
May it transfigure that which is negative, distant, or cold in you.
May you be brought in to the real passion, kinship, and affinity of belonging.
May you treasure your friends.
May you be good to them and may you be there for them;
May they bring you all the blessings, challenges, truth, and light that you need for your journey.
May you never be isolated.
May you always be in the gentle nest of belonging with your anam cara.
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Without our soulmate we are only half living , our life’s journey begins with that relationship with ourselves and moving on with the completion in finding the soulmate that has been created for us. Our destinity
Hi Terry, I believe that a soul mate is a wonderful blessing, but I don’t believe we are incomplete without one. I believe our journey is about the discovery that we are infinite beings in a body, always whole, always complete, and always perfect, just the way we are. 🙂
Very interesting, my name is also Terry, yes I do believe that there is a soul mate for us all and life without one can be a lonely place to be, sure we are all on a journey through life but our journey through life can be more enjoyable and meaningful with our soul mate beside us, yes we were all given a soul mate but through our lack of awareness and knowledge we just let them go, here’s hoping we discover them again and no I don’t believe in perfection, we are all make mistakes and always will because we are not perfect.