What's in a Name

My brother got married a week ago Saturday and his fiance has taken his surname. A friend of mine took his wife's surname and dropped his own, and another friend dropped her middle name and slid her surname into the vacant spot while adding her husband's surname to the end. My husband and I added each other's surnames to the ones we were born with, but we use these new additions in very different ways. My in-laws only have an initial for a middle name and another friend simply has space in that position. All of this makes me think.

In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare wrote: "... a rose by any other name would still smell as sweet", but I wonder - how many of us would smell the rose, if robbed of our ability to see its beauty clearly, if it carried the name of, say, bog posy? Would we risk our sense of smell, allow the possible lingering scent to invade our sinuses for hours after the experience, if the item in question carried such a less than pleasing moniker?

Perhaps I am wrong, though. One of the most visited flowers in the world, when they are blooming and filling the surrounding air with their fragrance, is the Corpse Flower. It cannot be possible that anyone seeing this name, hearing this name, could mistake the probable outcome of an olfactory encounter, and yet, thousands of people will flock to the plant to experience it for themselves.

Do we search for the things because of their names or do we search for the names because of the things? And once we have the name and the thing, do they fit together?

It took my husband and me 24 hours to be sure of our first child's name. It took 2 1/2 days to settle on our second child's. How long did it take Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin (whom I both adore) to decide on Apple as their first child's name? I am certain that our children are named correctly. My second lives up to the name given on a daily basis, much to our joy, irritation, delight, and amazement. I cannot imagine another name that would suit. Perhaps Apple does this as well, is the apple of their eye, is showing that she does not fall far from the tree, so to speak.

I sat forever trying to name this blog. Not only could I not find the right name, when I thought I had it was already taken by someone else. This frustrated me greatly. Not only could I not find the right words to say what I wanted, but when I stumbled upon a few that might do the trick they were no longer mine to have. It is an evil thing to be a writer without access to words, yet filled with words that need release. And so, trying to think clearly about what I want to say while I hear my husband reading to my children before putting them to bed, I type in what I want - a writing life - and begin to play with the words that I love.

~ Peace and words