The Maiya effect

My wife is awesome. Now, if you’ve read much of my stuff, you’ll know I don’t use that word lightly. When I say "awesome", I don’t mean it like “woah, that was an awesome pizza, dude,” or, “remember Thundercats? That was an awesome show!” No, in my lexicon, awesome is reserved for those things that totally take your breath away and leave you absolutely stunned that you’ve been privileged to witness such a thing. Like the images I sometimes see of space (such as this incredible shot from Cassini of Saturn eclipsing the Sun). Like watching a spaceship hurtle into the sky on a column of flame. Things that make me feel small and humble, and at the same time proud to be here to see them.

So, returning to the start of the previous paragraph, my wife is, indeed awesome. I’m not talking about her magnificent cleavage, though that does, indeed take my breath away on a regular basis. And, it seems, that of many other people. Hell, her boobs even have their own Facebook fan club. (Not kidding!) I’m not talking about her artwork, and her fantastic creative vision, though that was what drew us together in the first place.


No, what makes my wife awesome is the effect she has on people, me included. Ever since I’ve known her, I’ve watched her as she inspires people to do amazing things, go beyond their limits and even completely change their lives. And, which is more awesome, she doesn’t even do it deliberately. She doesn’t actually do anything. She just has to be there, and this incredible effect just seems to rub off on people.

Over the last few months, several people have written to her thanking her for what she’s done for them. Some have become artists after meeting her. Some have dealt with depression. In most cases, all Anna’s actually done is to put on an art show and be there, as a friendly, genial host with an incredible smile and a welcoming manner. Sometimes she’s simply looked at someone’s work, costume, or make-up and said something complimentary.

In my case, she just smiled at me the first time we met, and I was a goner from that moment. Then we had a long transatlantic Skype conversation one night, and I decided to get off my increasingly morose ass, deal with my personal problems and shyness, and impress the hell out of this woman. And I’m a much better and happier person for it. Just one meeting with Anna is all it takes.

In fact, the "Maiya effect" is even more powerful than that. She doesn’t even have to be there in person. It apparently works remotely too, even on complete strangers. When I first encountered her, she had several thousand friends on MySpace, and hundreds more clamoring to join the throng. Quite literally, barely a week went by without someone messaging to her and telling her how they’d been inspired by her to do something. Usually it was something creative, but sometimes they’d tell her how they’d suddenly felt compelled to do something totally crazy, like go travelling, change their job, change their relationship. The only contact she had ever had with them was usually adding them to her friends list, but somehow just that ephemeral etheric contact was enough.

I don’t know how she does it. You can call it charisma, call it magic, call it what you will. All I know is that whatever Anna does, it’s amazing, and I’m proud and happy that when she changed my life, she brought me into hers.