Lee Meibo

Platonic love is no lesser a love than romantic love to me. If you have close friendships, even people that you’d almost childishly call them your best friends, you know what I mean when I say that it’s such an amazing experience. Having someone who you connect to on some deep level is just so cool! And best friends can be found anywhere. Maybe you went to the same grade school, maybe you were co-workers at first, maybe you met online. You could be the same age or you could be each other’s sibling you’ve always wanted/never had. There’s just this person who you connect with, they may not think like you, they may not look like you, they may not have the same taste in music as you, but there’s this person that just thinking about them makes you feel some shroud of happiness and content.

You may not be the most emotional person, you may not notice it right away, but you love each other. Seeing a movie together and laughing at each other’s jokes more than the movie, taking candid photos or really embarrassing ones, sharing a pair of headphones while listening to music on the train, shopping trips, late night snack runs, whatever memories you already have with this person, you look back with such fondness it can’t be anything besides love.

No, you’re not in love with this person, but you love them. And they love you. You dedicate your time to each other, you know everything about this person and yet still manage to learn something new everyday. You pick up on each other’s habits, you recognize each other’s moods and emotions, you know if they snort or wheeze when they laugh. It’s all love, it’s all something you could have with a romantic partner, but they’re not one that’s the beauty of it to me. Your best friends are soulmates.

Soulmates are seen primarily as romantic concepts, a person you were designed to know and made to love. I’m convinced that there are people I was made to love, I know because luckily, I’ve found those people. You have this bond that seems inseparable, you think back to times before you knew each other and you think about how you have this hole in your heart filled, like you found the last puzzle piece that fits into your very being. You hurt when they hurt, you ache when they ache, you get pissed when they get pissed, you love when they love. And you become in sync. Sometimes so much to the point where you say things at the same time. You can’t deny that they haven’t made you into someone different. Not for worse but for better. Not into someone you’re not, but closest to the truest version of yourself, one that not many people get to see. There’s an unspoken level of trust in that, you don’t even recognize that the reason you’re the most comfortable with this person or these people is because you are showing them the most real version of you. And they love you! That real version of you, that’s the person they’re best friends with!

There is a level of intimacy in friendship. A pat on the back, a tight hug, resting your head on their shoulder, squeezing their hand, there’s love in every contact. You stay up till 3 am talking to your best friend because you’ve become accustomed to their voice and their laugh. You gravitate towards each other when you’re scared. You brush their hair out of their face. You talk about dreams and plans while minutes turn into hours. You argue over the dumbest topics. You share a bed and whisper like you’re at a sleepover and you feel young. You watch movies together. You share songs with them you think they’d like. You share posts with them you know they’d hate. You give them FaceTime tours of your house. You know how to push their buttons. You tell jokes to see the smile on their face form when they try not to laugh.

There’s an abundance of words repeated “This reminded me of you”, “I’ve never told anyone this before”, “I thought you’d like this”, “Did you like what I sent you?”, “I love you”.

Seeing people look at their best friends with such admiration reminds me love is everywhere. People posting goofy pictures together from a fun night before. Seeing people tag friends on posts. Seeing friends supporting friends for their talents. People adding an excess of heart emojis when commenting on each other’s selfies. Platonic love is such an abundant thing but is so often overlooked for being not as meaningful as romantic love. This is so important to me because I’ve only recently found people I can truly give love to and receive as much back. If you think I’m just mushy and doing this for notes, go out and find your soulmate. Finding someone you share a part of your innermost self with is extraordinary.

@gibertello