Spell Your Name

Last name-niggles post, at least for a while.

In “The Niggles: What’s In a Name?” we looked at how names communicate outward. Our “brand” as they say is a shorthand way to communicate who we are. It can be authentic. It can be a disguise. But it, our name,  is something to consider.

“Shakespeare’s Roses” looks at how names…words…communicate inwardly. We respond differently to different words. They have an impact on our inner world. Would we feel the same about roses if they were actually named goobers or something? Maybe the thing would change the word, maybe the word would change our inner perception of the thing.  Either way, we are back to the notion that words have power. Power to shape our perceptions of the world and the world’s perception of us.

Names are labels. How does that make you feel?

Those words alone carry connotations and implications that impact us. You are named. That gives you autonomy. If you can be named, that means you are seen, accepted & loved (as in a christening) or made to own your actions (as in naming a suspect). Both of these are empowering things, granting identity and autonomy.

Labels are, on the physical level, practical things. They communicate important things, so you don’t put salt in your coffee, or take the wrong amount of medicine. When applied to people, however, they have no use and may cause harm. Humans are multifaceted, complex, shifting, growing, feeling…so many things that are far beyond the grasp of any one word or label. Labels lessen. Labels condense and summarize. Labeling others is the essence of bigotry. Labeling ourselves makes us less than who we really are.

For people, names are better than labels. Pick a name, any name. Remember Rufus Xavier Sarsparilla from Schoolhouse Rock? That’s a fun name. Rufus was a lot of stuff. If you labeled him  “old guy” that gives us a limited view of who he is. If he labels himself “old guy” then he constricts the energy and potential in his life compared to thinking of himself as adventurer, kangaroo fan, friend or brother.

The names and labels we give ourselves is the overlap between the outward way we communicate to others with names in the “branding” sense and the inner perceptions other names and labels elicit within us. The names and labels we choose for ourselves are like a magic spell of sorts for our inner psychology.  Did you quit something or did you choose something new? Are you a religion or are you a compassionate person? Are you a disease or are you someone fabulous who has some extra things to deal with?

In some Native American traditions, names change as people move through life and change. (Waugman, E.P. 2011, Psychology Today https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/whats-in-name/201107/names-and-identity-the-native-american-naming-tradition) I’ve read in other sources that this new name is self-chosen to reflect accomplishments, and major life changes, and to embrace this new self – identity. I can’t remember or find those other sources at the moment. In Dune, Frank Herbert shows a bit of the same. The Fremen give Paul a tribal name (he is seen, accepted, official, even loved, like we see in christenings and other baby naming ceremonies) but Paul also chooses a public-facing, outside the tribe name for himself. He chooses one that reflects his spiritual purpose, his destiny in the story.

In a way, the Fremen names reflect reality. We have our given names, our tribal, legal, on-the-official-paperwork names, we have nicknames within our circle of friends and family, and we have the ever shifting internal labels we grab and claim.

Take care the names you give yourself. Your inner label, your mental identity, your name  that you give yourself is the magic spell for who you aspire to be and who you allow yourself to become.