theprincessleia:

Carrie is one of those people who will never truly die. Not just because of Star Wars. I mean, she will always be Princess Leia – whether she’s a baby, or a princess, or a general. Carrie Fisher is Princess Leia. No one else will ever be able to replace her.

I’m a new fan on all accounts; I got into Star Wars last year and I was drawn to her because of Leia, who quickly became my favorite character. But right then… I had just been told by a doctor that there was a possibility that I have Bipolar Disorder. I had been told that years before but I never accepted it. And when that doctor told me that and I found out Princess Leia had Bipolar Disorder… I decided to know more about Carrie.

And her quotes made me accept it. And her books made me thrive that, hey, maybe it’s okay not to be normal? Maybe being insane is kind of normal. She spoke so plainly about this sort of stuff. When I feel like my mind won’t shut up I pick up a book and read some quote that I identify with – and it makes me feel normal.

I looked forward each new interview I’ve come across, each new article a magazine published about her. She’s Princess Leia to most people, and even though I’m a new fan, Carrie was Carrie to me – a party girl in her youth, an advocate for mental health, a great person with great stories and an eccentric but apparently fun life. She made me feel like I could aspire to be someone normal even if I’m a little insane sometimes. She made me accept myself in a way no one had accepted me yet, and I felt that in this way, she accepted me.

I’ll miss her tweets. I’ll miss her interviews. I’ll miss seeing her with Gary. I’ll miss her jokes. But most of all, I’ll miss the way she was – irreverent and amazing and not giving a fuck if someone didn’t like something she did or how she looked.

But she’ll never truly die – she’ll live forever in the lives that, like mine, she touched. Whether by being Princess Leia, a writer, or herself. Because Carrie Fisher was all of those people combined.