One of the effects of becoming a blogger and of reading books from a deliberate perspective is that I am beginning to really believe in the power of the personal narrative. As humans we once carried knowledge, traditions, sense of family and honor through oral history. We told each other stories, and I think stories have the ability to convey really deep truths. Of course, we like hard data: facts, figures, statistics…and they help us understand reality and get a handle on complexity. At least in a certain way. But that is only one way to get at truth. I think there is real power in the human voice, as flawed as it may be. And when the voices speak together, when you have a multitude of voices speaking, patterns begin to emerge and there you can begin to understand truth.
So in the spirit of the personal narrative, I want to try hosting a weekly challenge every Tuesday morning, where I will post a topic (ranging from the banal to the intimate) and ask readers to respond. I would love to see everyone’s answers and how similar and different they all are.
The Rules
You can respond in any way you choose. You can give a fictional response or a true one. You can use words, sentences, and/or photographs. If you have a blog, you can link it with Mr. Linky below. Please be sure to include “Tell It To Me Tuesdays” in the title, and link back to this post. If you don’t have a blog, but want to join in, you can just leave a comment. Please follow the rules. I don’t want to have to delete links. I like links! Don’t make me delete them.
This week’s challenge: What’s in a name?
What does your name mean to you and do you think it shapes who you are?
This idea has been floating around in my head since I read The Poisonwood Bible (as I mentioned in yesterday’s post). But then my hubby passed this article on to me and I was astounded by the coincidence – and the researchers’ findings.
As an author, I select character names very deliberately – the names have meanings appropriate to the character’s personality or role. But it’s interesting to wonder whether causation works in the reverse: do we behave in certain ways because of our names?
For me, Jade calls to mind something unique, feminine but not overly girly, and strong. I’m not sure if I’m any of those things, but that is part of how I’d like to see myself. Even if I’m not, I think there is an underlying part of me that strives to be.
Next week’s challenge: The smell of a memory
What scents evoke strong memories in you?
Honestly? I don’t give a whole lot of thought to my name. It’s my name. It just….is. It’s what people call me, and it’s what I have to explain at least once a week (“What’s your last name?” “Cady.” “No no, your last name.” “Yeah, I understood the question.”). And of course there’s the constant respelling of my first name (note to self: bless future children with “normal” spellings of names). But other than that? I really don’t give my name a whole lot of thought. Nor do I give thought to other people’s names…unless it’s something like Moonshine, Shaniqua, or Kal El. Then I just think that their parents were mean.
Despite what I wrote above, I am somewhat obsessed with baby names and have, obviously, named all of my future children, with alternates in case of last name clashing…you know, since I’m single and all. Ha.
Nothing like planning ahead.
Though I’m curious what kind of criteria you had in mind when you’re selecting your kids’ names? Also, do you think, if you’d had a choice, you would have chosen a different name for yourself?
Though, if the researchers are correct, at least you’ll have a longer life!
I don’t think I would have chosen a different name for myself, because my name is my name, you know? I think I would have spelled it correctly though (allison). My last name is a big enough pain on its own. My mom wanted to name me Kaylee, but that obviously sounds ridiculous with my last name. For kids’ names, there are a few names that I have liked for as long as I can remember (Sydney, Mackenzie, Matthew). I figure it is pretty safe to say I won’t get sick of those names. What is annoying is that Mackenzie is now pretty trendy, even though I’ve liked it since I was about 8. I love the idea of family names, but actually liking a name is more important to me than using a family name I don’t like. There are other names that I like, but they tend to be trendier, so I’m not sure of their sticking power. We shall see!
It’s funny. Toby read somewhere that one of the more popular girl’s names now is Madison, which was pretty much unseen before the ’80s. What happened in the ’80s you might ask? A movie called “Splash” with Darryl Hannah playing a mermaid walking the streets of NYC and when prompted to name herself, looks over to Madison Ave and says “Madison”.
When Alias came on and Jennifer Garner’s character was Sydney, I was a little worried that the name would skyrocket in popularity. It did go up a little, but not much. Still safe for my use. Not that I mind popular names, I mean they are popular for a reason, right? But it’s like when you love an unknown band, and then everyone else catches on, and you are like “hey, I liked them first!”.
Our nightly routine now includes throwing out possible baby names and shooting them down one by one based on how that name could be twisted into an insult during grade school. We liked Lila, but Lila is a liar. We liked William, but William = Willy, and Willy = well, you know. We liked Ellen, but Ellen is a lesbian and while we are cool with that, we don’t want to pre-determine the sexual preference of our unborn child with a name, nor make her fodder for playground bullying if she happens to be straight in the 3rd grade. So our unborn blob of cells remains nameless until we can find a name that is bulletproof and inspiring, all at once.
Hehehe…well, kids can probably turn just about anything around if they want to…but there are some names (especially the ones resembling anything remotely near genitalia) that do inspire commentary.
Lila is a really pretty name, though! Kids probably wouldn’t turn it into liar unless, well, she lies. Might keep her honest! 
I’m trying to catch up with my reading. Not sure when I will be caught up though. I’ve never really thought about my name and how it may or may not reflect me. I will definitely give it some thought and maybe post my belated thoughts. Glad you are back and blogging!
I like this idea. I will try to participate in future.
Thank you! That’s great! I’m looking forward to having you join in.