Crafting a name for a character is the most challenging and defining moment in writing a new story, each time I go into a new project I'm pressured with the responsibility of naming my creations. Often when this happens I think about how parents must feel when the time comes to choose a name for a child and I'm hit with the realization of how significant each person's name truly is. My first name was selected and crafted by my parents with a lot of care, my dad insisted my name being with the letter D and it was my mother who found the name Dasia falling into her lap one afternoon. My last name is one that I've grown to cherish, it's not a last name I hear often and it's always followed my first name with a unique charm. As I've aged my name has started holding more and more weight to it as I've discovered various layers to who I am as a person and what I enjoy and dislike in this lifetime. Names are so essential to the way we think about ourselves, a person's name ultimately becomes a source of strength. Whether you keep the name chosen for you or reinvent your own name, it's your own powerful source purely for you. How we define ourselves is an indication of how we'll choose to make our life choices and create our own life story. Each individual goes through a progression in their life of self discovery, taking different journeys to unearth things about themselves they never knew and learn how to love themselves for who they are, but it's admittedly difficult. If you're someone who lacks a sense of self, don't worry it doesn't make you strange and it doesn't mean you're void. It takes time to understand your own thoughts and emotions and how they apply to your personality. Personally, growing up with no siblings at home and no interest in extra curricular activities at school left me with a lot of alone time to let my curiosities float around my mind. I've spent nine years gathering courage, acceptance, and confidence to become the person I am currently. It took nine years to understand that the hobbies I love don't define me and the people around me don't have a right to label me, I can create my own definition of who I am in whatever way I want and realizing that brings a whole world of opportunity and freedom.
There's weight in your name, just as there is weight in my name, and I hope we all continue to work on ourselves with gentle compassion so it's never weight we can't carry.
