This was one of my responses (inspired from Naresh's blog) to the Strictly Platonic question.

I do not believe that there are any two persons in this world who will agree on everything all the time, much less understand each other. But so long there is commonality for a framework to build a union between the two (for examples, values, morals, religious beliefs etc), it is possible to make a marriage or a relationship work between two very different individuals (eg, an artist and a scientist, or a homemaker and a professor etc). Good marriages and relationships do not happen by chance or luck - couples have to work at it.

The difference between sharing thoughts and sharing innermost thoughts (which I also take to mean soul) is simply this:

I share my thoughts on a variety of topics with most people, like I am doing right now through the Internet. I do that at work, at meetings, at social functions and in other group activities. It does not have to be superficial - it can be an intellectual sharing, it can be social fun sharing etc.

But my innermost thoughts or soul (that is, my dreams, aspirations, goals, disillisionments, or any other private thoughts that I would trust with another human) I choose to share with only a select few - my partner, my parents, my siblings or one or two of my best girlfriends. And even within this select group, I choose as to what sort of innermost thoughts I share. My partner tends to get the full version because of the nature of the relationship - ie honesty and communication between the couple is a must for it to be a good and successful relationship. My parents or siblings may not want to hear the full details (may be too troubling for them), so I share only what is needed. And so too with my girlfriends.

I hope that helps you understand better what I meant earlier.

Btw, if someone holds out on marriage or love, thinking that the next person, who comes along, may be the one to finally *truly* understand his/her "soul", then that person is only deluding themselves. One has to give in order to receive, cliched as that sounds, it means that one has to commit themselves to a relationship, in order for it blossom. It's all attitudinal, in the end, it's not magic.