Kindreds
Menu
  • ORIGIN
  • Q&A
  • FALCONEERING
  • RANTING
  • THEORIES & CASES
  • VENIO
  • JARGON?
  • TALES
  • MATCHMAKING
  • DAILY BREAD
Menu

What is a Kindred Spirit?

Posted on December 16, 2022January 6, 2024 by Ari Johnson

Welcome to Kindreds.

There’s a 36% chance that you are a kindred spirit simply by being here.

If you’re wondering what it means to be a kindred spirit… here’s a crash course.  

Many people have heard of “kindred spirits” before. 

In fact, many people call the individuals they meet “kindred spirits.” 

What does this mean?

Where does this phrase come from?

When people refer to someone as a “kindred spirit” they are usually suggesting that the person has interests or attitudes that are similar to theirs. 

This is the basic understanding of a kindred spirit.

But wait… there’s more.

Anne Shirley thought about the concept of “kindred spirits” in a slightly different and deeper way. 

Beloved author L.M. Montgomery created the character Anne Shirley in her series Anne of Green Gables. 

In the book, Anne describes a kindred spirit as someone with who she can share a deep and meaningful connection. She describes it as “A bosom friend–an intimate friend, you know–a really kindred spirit to whom I can confide my inmost soul.”

For Anne, a kindred spirit is someone who understands her on a deep level, shares her passions. A kindred spirit is someone with whom she can have meaningful conversations and share her deepest thoughts and feelings. She believes that kindred spirits are rare and hard to find, but that when you do find them, the connection is powerful and life-changing. 

That’s a little bit of a different definition than someone who only shares your interests. 

You would think that Anne Shirley, a girl who names lakes, adds letters to her name, can’t stand when anyone mentions her red hair, and writes ghost stories would need to find someone equally as vivacious and dramatic as herself to be considered a kindred spirit.

But who becomes Anne’s bosom friend? Her kindred spirit?

Diana Barry. 

An ordinary somewhat practical girl with a much smaller imagination than Anne’s.

Their shared interest is that they both need a friend and are willing to listen to and help each other. 

So according to Anne, a kindred spirit can be both someone who shares your interests and passions OR someone you decide to like almost against their will. Someone you can teach to be a kindred spirit.

My big question after all of these definitions is…

Are kindred spirits born?

Or can they be created?

If kindred spirits are only born then there’s no point in trying to be one. You either are or you aren’t. 

If kindred spirits can be created then there’s nobody that was born to be kindred spirits with you and all your deep and meaningful friendships are just a manipulation. 

So my belief now is that kindred spirits are both born and created.

I believe there is a way to teach someone to be a kindred spirit.  

Anne Shirley accomplished this with Diana Barry. 

Diana had to be taught how to be more imaginative, romantic, and impulsive. Anne had to show her what it looked and felt like to be a kindred spirit. 

A vast majority of people have no interest in life today… they’re like robots staring into the void of their empty schedules. 

I ask people all the time “How are you today?” and they respond “I’m fine.” 

When I try to probe deeper… nothing

When I try to get any kind of anything… nothing

So recently I have begun to classify kindred spirits as those people who have an interest in living and the world. They intentionally look for ways to feel, discover and understand different ideas, cultures, and points of view. 

Kindred Spirits find humor in life, they look for ways to laugh even amidst serious situations. 

Kindred Spirits value doing things that might have no utility. They find meaning and beauty in things with no apparent purpose. 

So here’s my new definition of kindred spirits.

A definition that should be hopeful for those of you that want to become more kindred.

Kindred Spirit [kin-drid spir-it]

noun

a person who is interested in living and life

a person who finds humor in life and looks for ways to laugh even in serious situations

a person who finds meaning and beauty in things with no purpose of utility

a person who intentionally looks for ways to feel, discover and understand 

a person with whom you feel a strong sense of camaraderie and mutual understanding

a person with whom you can be yourself and who brings out the best in you

If you want to become this kind of person… it’s going to take effort. Not all kindred spirits become kindred naturally.

If you don’t know where to start… you’re in luck. I have designed this entire site to display what it looks, feels, and tastes like to be interested in life. To be a kindred spirit.

Why be as lifeless as a dead potato lying in a field in Rexburg Idaho when you could be a kindred spirit?

Start today by being a little more kindred

“Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It's splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world.”

“Oh, it’s delightful to have ambitions. I’m so glad I have such a lot. And there never seems to be any end to them — that’s the best of it. Just as soon as you attain to one ambition you see another one glittering higher up still. It does make life so interesting.”

“I went looking for my dreams outside of myself and discovered, it’s not what the world holds for you, it’s what you bring to it.”

“‘Dear old world’, she murmured, ‘you are very lovely, and I am glad to be alive in you.‘”

“It’s been my experience that you can nearly always enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly that you will.”

“Life is worth living as long as there’s a laugh in it.”

“All things great are wound up with all things little.”

“Isn’t it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive--it’s such an interesting world. It wouldn’t be half so interesting if we know all about everything, would it? There’d be no scope for imagination then, would there?"

“People laugh at me because I use big words. But if you have big ideas, you have to use big words to express them, haven’t you?”

©2025 Kindreds