Intuition and Kindred Spirits

I have often wondered what it is about a few certain people that draws us to them. It's as though we can sense that they are kindred spirits. I rarely feel that kind of connection with my quite-Southern relatives, but there are rare exceptions, apparently!

A second cousin (that's the technically correct level, but my relatives would probably call us third cousins...) just got married over the weekend. Jennifer is the granddaughter of my beloved Uncle Richard, younger brother of my granddad Emmett. Being part of Uncle Richard's family, she has been present at most of the family get-togethers, and her mama, Sue, is pivotal in coordinating and hosting such events. Hence, I happen to know this cousin somewhat from the family get-togethers.

Jennifer and I have spoken just a few times, and she once showed me her neighboring cute and cozy studio apartment (in which I delightedly noticed the entire Harry Potter collection of books), but really we are mostly strangers. I have always felt that we could be friends, though it has only been in theory and I have wondered why I felt like I knew her, why she seemed like such a wonderful friend candidate!

I was delighted to be invited to her wedding over the past weekend, and, after watching the wedding, I am just bursting with exuberation. I just KNEW that she and I were of a similar mindset... Despite the dubious fact that she was married in a Pentecostal Holiness Church, think fundamentalist central, it was the most perfect wedding I have ever attended. The vows were unique and thoughtful, the bride and groom lit memory candles for Uncle Richard and a few others, the service started with incredibly moving Celtic music, moved to country love ballads, and ended with "Another One Bites the Dust" as the wedding party danced out of the service!

The church was fairly small, but it was packed with loving family and friends. Every moment of the service seemed meaningful, and the couple looked quite loving. Later, when they cut the cake, I even guessed correctly that they would be sweet and NOT smash the cake in each other's faces! Sweetness trumped their wonderful senses of humor...just perfect...sigh!

So, despite the fact that it was in the Deep South, in a Pentecostal Holiness Church, and that she was marrying a football player, I was elated and overcome with the beauty and depth of the ceremony. I somehow think that Jennifer is a kindred spirit...more than just kin, y'know?

Anyhow, I doubt that I ever become close to Jennifer at all, but experiencing that simple yet most beautiful of ceremonies redoubled my trust in our innate instincts and feelings. Of the many weddings, many far more expensive and elaborate, that I have been to, this was the loveliest for me personally. Not the grandest, by any means, but I had that feeling about Jennifer...that she has depth and a similar vibe to me--I was going to say similar taste, but that sounds so whimsical and arbitrary. It's the truth, though. Isn't it exciting when we resonate with someone? When our tastes and opinions are likewise shared by a completely different person?

Not that we ever entirely share opinions with anyone... in fact, I don't know Jennifer very well and couldn't say at all what her opinions are. Taste, though, is definitely in line...her wedding choices and, of course, Harry Potter, totally resonate!

Hmm, what is my point? It's not that I've found a new wonderful friend, as I doubt I ever have more than a superficial interaction with her in the future. It's just that I find it fascinating that we can 'feel' so much more about a person than we should be able to in simply meeting them and having a couple of light conversations. It's simply thrilling to find that my inexplicable feeling of connection with her is being validated by witnessing the most lovely wedding I've ever seen...

I think sometimes it's wise to simply relax and trust our intuitions a bit. We don't have to measure and calculate everything. Our intuitions will often guide us down the road that is most suitably fitted to us, without our knowing 'why' we know what or who to choose.