This post is in response to the behavior and demeanour of my beautiful, wonderful, beyond intelligent friend Maya who reminds me a lot of Cassie Ainsworth from Skins.
So, Cassie is the resident crazy the first two seasons of Skins. A recovering anorexic, defined by her quirky taste in well, everything, and characterized by her dreaminess and tendencies of self-destruction, Cassie is oft-adored and, disturbingly so, emulated by Skins fans. Not as much as Effy Stonem, but still. Again you guys: you do not want to be an anorexic, suicide attempt victim, who uses sex and drugs as methods of self destruction. (I shouldn’t have to say this)
Maya is first of all, very very intelligent. In the traditional sense, with perfect grades and SAT scores, attending Stanford University next year and winning many awards and competitions, but also in a more abstract sense. She perceives situations in ways that are misunderstood by many, and she empathizes with people she ideally shouldn’t, for instance, myself. She is artistic in her writing and artwork, and most of all, admires the minds of others like art work, instead of shunning those different from herself.
In high school, people didn’t see Maya but were instead convinced by her image, almost positive that nothing remotely sinister or interesting was going on inside her mind other than how to win National History Day or how to build another robot. You see, to me, the most defining characteristic of Maya is how she responds to the world, in a way that is reminiscent, at least to me, of Cassie Ainsworth.
Maya is her own person, and often misunderstands the world and hopes so desperately that its intentions are as pure as her own. Cassie is similar. She fell in love with Sid, and hoped that he would feel the same, and was so passionately betrayed by his affection for Michelle, that she went off the deep end, attempting suicide, and later on, acting out her sadness through promiscuity and illegal drug use. Maya to me would respond similarly. She’s emotional in a way that worries me greatly. I don’t want her to be hurt by the world but her mind is as such; she will take it personally, and as a fault of hers rather than respond in a “screw the world” manner, and quite possibly, hurt herself in ways that would destroy those that love her.
Here’s a Maya tale that is on the internet right now so I can tell it: When Maya went to Stanford admit weekend, she was offered a trip into the woods with a college sophomore (Comp sci major who would have guessed?) whom she had never met before who became infatuated with her at 11 o’clock at night. Now, I think that we can all agree that it isn’t exactly a very intelligent idea. But to Maya, she could see nothing wrong with it, and was astounded when the boy stood outside her room all night, writing love notes, etc. Maybe realizing that people aren’t all good and pure would be a good idea for her.
Also, quite obviously, both are quirky people. Maya does these clothing themes, where she dresses up like a character, or a type, each day. Katniss from the Hunger Games, a flapper, Twiggy, Britney Spears (which I gave her the idea for), etc. And Cassie just wears whatever she likes, which made me beyond happy, since my own fashion sense is somewhat like hers, filled with flowered dresses, and pretty skirts rather than jeans or super sensual clothes like Michelle. Both are also rather spacey. Maya doesn’t really understand the world, and Cassie, while highly perceptive in her own way, doesn’t either. I can imagine Maya saying “oh Wow” in the same way that Cassie does.
More than anything, I can emphathize with both of them very much, although my personality is different from both of their’s. I can see their pains and sorrows but I can also see the wholesomeness with which they approach the world. It’s a sense of hope that I’ve lost in the last year, but I still revert to on certain occasions. Despite their pains, they try to make the best of things, doing what makes them happy, even if they avoid the issue at times. Maya is an INFJ, and to me, if I classified her, Cassie would be the same.
To Maya, who will read this soon enough, you are a lovely, most wonderful person, who listens to my ramblings and actually agrees with many of them, and please, don’t believe anybody who says you’re worth anything less than you truly are. Don’t settle for anything less than self-actualization, because you are far too good for settling. And find yourself a Tara in college. I don’t want to hear about you getting roofied at a frat party. Please. I love you so very much and wish you the best of luck in whatever you pursue, and hope that you watch Skins like you said you were going to do so this post makes more sense.
theartofmadeline
amandla
gummygunk
dailybridgerton
turnnoffyourmind
tangentwithtanner
