Names
(Inspired by my beautiful girlfriend.)
'Tis but thy name that is my enemy.
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name;
And for that name, which is no part of thee,
Take all myself.
Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Scene II
Truer words were never spoken. To quote my princess, "...what is a real name, that which we are given at birth by people that do not know us yet, or those that we give ourselves when we come into our lives?" I have seen, in my short 27 years on this earth, so many cases where this is true. My mom got married to my dad, then married again to my stepdad when I was 22; her name changed both times, as if the old her never existed and she was now somebody new. Friends of mine online have changed their real names due to personal reasons. I would even go so far as to say changing one's online moniker counts; it represents a starting-over, a fresh outlook -- or at least it did for me.
On some pagan paths, it's believed that One should give Oneself a True Name, one that is not revealed to others but those in One's coven, and defines who One is and becomes a path to power over One. Personally, I don't hold as much to the last part, but I do see the merit in choosing a name for Oneself as One matures to the point where One can truly identify who One is. Like the Catholic Confirmation, it's kind of an affirmation of who One really is, a way to define more fully Oneself in One's own mind.
Thinking back, I still can recall all the names I have chosen for myself throughout my life, and why I did so. In fifth grade, I became known by my first name, which I to this day hate with a passion... but at the time I needed the kind of change something like that brings. That change didn't last long. When I first started college, thanks to one of my so-called friends, I became enamoured with the Backstreet Boys, and entered into her fantasy world, pretending I was one of the Boys' kid sister, intent on marrying another of them. The name I chose for that character became an online moniker of mine for a long time... and then I swore off the internet for a good year. By the time I came back, I had changed so much that that name no longer fit who I had become, so my name changed once again to the online name you see before you today. Nowadays, I identify myself by one of a few names, depending on who I'm talking to. If it's work, it's (unfortunately) the legal name (and I wish I could convince them to change that >.<). If it's school or out in the real world, or with a few of my closest online friends, it's my familiar name. And with other online friends, it's my online moniker in one form or another. Some people use both of the latter two interchangeably; it doesn't bother me in the slightest, because they both define who I am today.
'Tis but thy name that is my enemy.
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name;
And for that name, which is no part of thee,
Take all myself.
Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Scene II
Truer words were never spoken. To quote my princess, "...what is a real name, that which we are given at birth by people that do not know us yet, or those that we give ourselves when we come into our lives?" I have seen, in my short 27 years on this earth, so many cases where this is true. My mom got married to my dad, then married again to my stepdad when I was 22; her name changed both times, as if the old her never existed and she was now somebody new. Friends of mine online have changed their real names due to personal reasons. I would even go so far as to say changing one's online moniker counts; it represents a starting-over, a fresh outlook -- or at least it did for me.
On some pagan paths, it's believed that One should give Oneself a True Name, one that is not revealed to others but those in One's coven, and defines who One is and becomes a path to power over One. Personally, I don't hold as much to the last part, but I do see the merit in choosing a name for Oneself as One matures to the point where One can truly identify who One is. Like the Catholic Confirmation, it's kind of an affirmation of who One really is, a way to define more fully Oneself in One's own mind.
Thinking back, I still can recall all the names I have chosen for myself throughout my life, and why I did so. In fifth grade, I became known by my first name, which I to this day hate with a passion... but at the time I needed the kind of change something like that brings. That change didn't last long. When I first started college, thanks to one of my so-called friends, I became enamoured with the Backstreet Boys, and entered into her fantasy world, pretending I was one of the Boys' kid sister, intent on marrying another of them. The name I chose for that character became an online moniker of mine for a long time... and then I swore off the internet for a good year. By the time I came back, I had changed so much that that name no longer fit who I had become, so my name changed once again to the online name you see before you today. Nowadays, I identify myself by one of a few names, depending on who I'm talking to. If it's work, it's (unfortunately) the legal name (and I wish I could convince them to change that >.<). If it's school or out in the real world, or with a few of my closest online friends, it's my familiar name. And with other online friends, it's my online moniker in one form or another. Some people use both of the latter two interchangeably; it doesn't bother me in the slightest, because they both define who I am today.