What's in a name?
Ok, so for a while now I've been using "anika mari" as my "name" for the art I create. I didn't necessarily mean for it to be seen as my name, but maybe that's inevitable. It's not my name, but it is derived from my name. It's my first and middle name, minus the "e" on marie. Why not simply use "anika marie"? Well, I thought "anika mari" looked cooler.
I like it for the most part, but sometimes it makes me feel a little squidgy. I feel like sometimes people aren't sure how to pronounce it, and maybe I'm one of them. No one ever gets my first name right on the first try anyway, but then throw in another "name" of questionable pronunciation, and I wonder if it's all just a little too much.
Yeah, I know, I'm probably waaaaayyy over thinking this, but I find myself coming back to the topic again and again, if only in my mind.
I just signed up for yet another artsy social networking site, and on the sign up page it encouraged me to use my real name so that it's easier for people to find me. I entered in Anika Mari and made the account, and immediately after I felt a twinge of uncertainty. The website is so simple it doesn't give the option to change it. Now I'm feeling half hearted about going ahead and posting anything to my "studios" on the site. I just feel so split. Maybe that's the problem with the name; that I haven't embraced it and feel somewhat like I'm lying by presenting myself with this other name that's sort of my name, but sort of not. Maybe it makes me feel pretentious or something.
Likely it'll continue to be a point of controversy in my brain, but at this point I'm not exactly ready or willing to switch over to using my real name anyway, so I suppose things will remain as they are, even if I do feel a little uneasy about the whole thing.
I like it for the most part, but sometimes it makes me feel a little squidgy. I feel like sometimes people aren't sure how to pronounce it, and maybe I'm one of them. No one ever gets my first name right on the first try anyway, but then throw in another "name" of questionable pronunciation, and I wonder if it's all just a little too much.
Yeah, I know, I'm probably waaaaayyy over thinking this, but I find myself coming back to the topic again and again, if only in my mind.
I just signed up for yet another artsy social networking site, and on the sign up page it encouraged me to use my real name so that it's easier for people to find me. I entered in Anika Mari and made the account, and immediately after I felt a twinge of uncertainty. The website is so simple it doesn't give the option to change it. Now I'm feeling half hearted about going ahead and posting anything to my "studios" on the site. I just feel so split. Maybe that's the problem with the name; that I haven't embraced it and feel somewhat like I'm lying by presenting myself with this other name that's sort of my name, but sort of not. Maybe it makes me feel pretentious or something.
Likely it'll continue to be a point of controversy in my brain, but at this point I'm not exactly ready or willing to switch over to using my real name anyway, so I suppose things will remain as they are, even if I do feel a little uneasy about the whole thing.