What Does It Mean When You've Found Your Soul Tie?

Finding someone you love is the greatest feeling in the world. You've weeded through everyone else, done your time dating people who, in many cases, didn't deserve you, and you've finally come out the other side with love, true love, in your hand. You're elated, you're floating, and you're quite sure that it's not just love but that you've found your other half — your soulmate.

According to a poll by YouGov America, 60% of U.S. adults believe in soulmates, with the majority of that number being women at 64%. While only 55% of men believe in soulmates, that's still more than half. But as much as people believe in soulmates, what a soulmate actually is sometimes gets confused with what we see in art and media.

"Soulmates are something you can become through work, ongoing communication, clear expression of needs, negotiation, and commitment — you'll never find a soulmate," sexologist Dr. Jess O'Reilly tells Bustle. "Relationships don't work out because you're 'meant to be'; you can choose to make a relationship work or not work. This choice/agency is empowering and lays the groundwork for a much healthier relationship than so-called fate." In other words, you don't look across a crowded room, lay your eyes on someone, and realize they're your soulmate. Soulmates take hard work and understanding you're both on the same page in your wants and needs for the future, a future you plan to have together.

So, if that's a soulmate, then what's a soul tie?

From soulmates to twin flames to solar flares, there seems to be a new take on what "the one" looks like and feels like to people. But is there a difference between these types of emotional connections?

"A soulmate is a kind of soul tie, and a twin flame is a kind of soul tie," relationship coach John Ryan De Oca tells Brides. "These are [all] spiritual agreements that we were going to meet in this world to do some kind of work, though we don't always know what that work is going to look like."

While the two concepts are different, a twin flame is also known as a mirrored soul because of how the intensity and love are mirrored between two people, and a soulmate is your other half that makes you finally whole, as per Socrates' The Symposium, they're still steeped in a connection that transcends what we know as ordinary love. Because of the spirituality that comes from all forms of soul ties, the love is deep and profound and can sometimes be a bit much to an outsider. Case in point: Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly have declared themselves twin flames. But, for the record, you don't need to be that over-the-top in your behavior to be someone's soul tie.

If you're lucky enough to have found your soul tie, then you have something very special that needs to be cared for and fostered so it will continue to flourish and the connection will deepen. 

"While we are all connected, soul ties are something special, even though they are common," professional intuitive Carroll Richardson tells Mind Body Green. "You could have known each other in a past life, be from the same soul family, or simply have a soul contract to meet up in this lifetime and have some type of relationship or experience together."

Because of this, when your soul tie comes into your life, you're likely to feel like you've met them before or have known them your whole life. You are instantly comfortable and at ease. Soul ties also tend to show up at pivotal times in a person's life, according to Richardson, to help you through something you're struggling with or bring their energy into the fold just when you need them most. When this happens, you know you need to pay attention and open yourself up to do work together for not just yourselves and your love but the greater good. Soul ties are powerful things and shouldn't be taken for granted.

Although soul ties tend to share a connection that's deeper than a lot of relationships, it doesn't mean that keeping the relationship happy and healthy isn't going to require work. All relationships require honesty, communication, and moments of vulnerability in order to thrive. So if you've found your soul tie, great! But don't think your relationship will be any easier because of it. You still need to put in the effort so it will prosper for the long term.