Girl/Boy Meets what it means to Love

Girl/Boy Meets what it means to Love

"I am young, and I am dumb, I do stupid things when it comes to love, and even if I always end up crying, you can’t blame a girl for trying"- Sabrina Carpenter

I have seen with the passage of time in the show Riley, Lucas, Farkle and Maya move on from middle school into high school where they face new challenges and learn new lessons; but one constant point where they trip and fall, where their perspective continuously changes, what gives them headaches is love and relationships. As a show aimed at teaching people life lessons and how to deal with situations, love and relationships is as complex and eternal as it gets. No matter how young or old we are, love is very complicated with many aspects to explore and we will never really understand it. Well, for this piece of writing in am going to try and make sense of it cause we all need advice when it comes to these types of things and I may not be the most adequate person to talk about this but hopefully you take something away from my ideas on this topic, who knows maybe you will find the answers in this piece.

Sabrina Carpenter plays Maya in this show as some of you may know but she is also a very talented singer and I think that no one puts into words what I, what most of you, go through when it comes to love so I am just going to quote from her song “Can’t Blame a Girl for Trying”: “Should have played it cool, instead I made a fool, all the things I do. Cause I am young, and I am dumb, I do stupid things when it comes to love, and even if I always end up crying, you can’t blame a girl for trying”. Farkle has always loved Riley and Maya, like friends, but at the same time wanting more than that and throughout the series he always tends to go, over the top when he is around them. He is the smartest kid in class but when he is around them he makes silly mistakes. Admit it, we have all been there. I was at the graduation of one of my cousins and this girl that I really liked was with her family and decided to go for pizza to the same restaurant we did and as it turns out we sat across the table from each other so I stood up to say hi and hit my head against the lamp, moment of brilliance really. This other time I was playing a football match at school and that girl decided to show up to to the game to see how I was doing and by trying to be all cool and give her a smile and wink from the pitch to the stands I got nutmeg. Just moments of brilliance really. As silly as it may seem this is how you know that you are head over heals about someone, when that person causes you to be distracted that is what I look for, what I wish for, that is the person that I want to be with, that is loving someone Riley does the same things when she is around Lucas, she makes terrible jokes, or stumbles on her words, just tries to get a smile out of him. When the first time that you two go out or are alone you are blown away by her smile and all you wish to do is get a laugh out of her, then is when you know she is the one, at least for that moment in time. Her happiness brings you happiness. That person is one in a million. I learned that when that person steals you heart, and you really fall for them, sometimes it causes you to do things that we wouldn't otherwise and sometimes even embarace ourselves but at least we know that person is worth a shot because it is who will make us happy. If the prospect of asking her out, or even talking to her alone makes you terrified or gets you incredible distracted and nervous, then is when you go for it. It makes you stop being the type of person who plays it safe all the time and take the risk that could change the rest of your life, love sometimes is a gamble, but it is worth taking if it is true. Many times it will end in heartbreak, in tears, but as Sabrina Carpenter puts it “u can’t blame [anyone] for trying” and a different person will come by at some points that makes you fall in love again.

Farkle is the character that I identify the most with especially when it comes to matters of the heart. There is a specific conversation that Farkle has with a girl who has a crush on him. And it just puts into words what I have felt love is. She asks him that if Riley and Maya weren’t beautiful, would he still love them? Farkle responds by asking himself: “They are beautiful? Oh yeah. I never really noticed.” That is one of the take away moments from the series. Being in love with someone means that you pass the superficial aspect of it. Of course you find them beautiful because looks count when it comes to love but what distinguishes love from attraction is personality. They are someone you admire, to a degree, for maybe their affection, their kindness, their perseverance. They are someone that you wan't to be around because they bring out the best in you and have many of the qualities you value about yourself. Pursuing someone who you are just physically attracted to but don’t have a connection will not make you happy, the void will not be fill and if that person is who you decide to have a relationship with, then you won’t be happy and it will end as quickly as it started. 

In a different episode Farkle can only take one of them to an event as a date and while neither one of them want to go with him in a romantic sense he shows them why he is worth it. Sure, he is not the most athletic kid in school or the most popular but he is the nicest and most thoughtful. He gives them a rose each with with the invitation letter. Riley, when she was first getting to know Farkle, had a teddy that she won in a fair but had lost recently well Farkle had gone to the fair and won an identical one for her. Maya loved her skateboard and had broken it so Farkle kept it and repaired to give back to her. People with a cynical view of the world would say that they could take advantage of him because clearly he is willing to do anything for them, well I dare to say they are wrong. I have done these types of things that Farkle did because once again it makes them happy and brings them a smile which makes me happy. That desire to do something to make her happy without her ever asking just means I am in love. It may not be reciprocated and it will hurt but in that pain there is still some joy in knowing that you did something to brighten up their day and that they are a part of your life. Feelings may change or someone else may come along that will steal your heart so don’t feel like the world is over. Maya and Riley fight the entire episode to decide which one of them gets to take Farkle to the event. They finally see him the way he sees them. They finally understand all the good qualities he has and they agree to never settle for anyone less than Farkle. Good guys don’t finish last. Be like Farkle, make them fall in love for how nice, kind, taught full you are and if the girl you like so much can’t see that this is the type of person they want to be with well it is their loss. Someone who wants to be with you because of your personality and your values they are worth a shot.

I want to be with someone that when I look into their eyes it takes me to a whole new world, someone who’s smell takes me to a different dimension, who’s voice I never get tired of hearing and who keeps my heart pumping at an accelerated rate. Like Riley, like Farkle fear is sometimes good when it comes to love because it shows us that it is real and in many ways makes us want to be better. One last thing, some may say that we are too young to know what love feels like but we know what we feel. You can feel love at any age and is worth listening to your heart to be happy. If through out the day at random times the face of that person pops into your head, you can't wait to hear their voice, you think about how great she/he is all the time, you are scared of being flawed around them then it is not a crush, you know better than anyone how you feel. Love burns like Smoke and Fire.

"Que la raza, el color, la religion, el genero, ni el estrato social sea un impedimiento para el amor"

Credits:

Sabrina Carpenter Can't Blame a Girl For Trying- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HibDj27DHMI