What is the difference between twin souls and twin flames?

As you know, the twin flame is the perfect life companion created at the time each soul was configured to have a perfect life partner for the duration, for an infinity. As such, it is the ultimate in attractiveness in all respects, on all levels. This is much more profound than what humans experience with physical beauty being such an important characteristic, and other things more often less significant. But that is a distortion of the physical configuration of the human extension from the soul level and not the most important consideration with respect to compatibility in terms of the life journey. That is a much more important consideration for two souls to spend time together. If they are on different paths and have differing interests and passions as a consequence, that will impede a relationship that is forced on the assumption they must spend time together, which happens frequently with humans from too hasty a decision to make a commitment that is actually doomed at the outset. Light beings do not make such errors because they have their full complement of awareness to work with. The existence of the twin flame is known to them, unlike with human beings, so it is a given and a starting point on their journey and remains as an important anchor relationship all the way along, no matter what diversions may come from time to time with many projects and probings and experiencing of differing kinds of existence that might be present among the dimensions available to be accessed. One will always return home at the end of a journey and it is not only reassuring, but built into the plan of creation itself, that each individual will have a twin flame who shares their interests and will always hold great love for them. When the twin soul designation is used, that is sometimes confused with twin flame, so one needs to know the source applying the label to better understand the true meaning. In most instances, when people refer to twin souls it is akin to kindred spirits, beings that are sympatico, most typically because they have already found one another and come together many, many, times so there are already existing cordings from many encounters and shared experiences. And for human beings this will be true across multiple lifetimes, so they are individuals who are particularly well-suited to, and do indeed, make excellent life partners for the human excursion, because being with a twin flame would be just too distracting and is never planned to happen. You are here on the planet Earth to do rescue and healing, it is not the time for bliss and the pleasure of twin flame companionship. But as a semblance of that closeness and compatibility, a twin soul from the soul collective who is in the range of configurations making them best suited to be together, will often plan to incarnate in a way that allows them to know one another and become life partners or play another role as friend, mentor, sibling, or parent.