When Shakespeare wrote "What's in a name? A rose, by any other name would smell as sweet" (Romeo and Juliet, Act 2 Scene 2) I think he got it wrong. Identity is attached strongly to the name(s) we give ourselves as well as the names we are given. For myself, a large part of me is wrapped up in my own name. I don't remember this, but when I was little (say, 5?) I used to stare at myself in the mirror, turning this way and that to look at my reflection. My Dad, whenever he saw me do this, would say "Yes, you're pretty" And I'd skip off happily and do whatever it is five year olds do. He totally thought I was a diva.
Flash forward to grade 4. My Dad liked to give me and my siblings nicknames, but he couldn't find one that stuck for me. I was reading "Nancy Drew and the Case of the Scarlet Slippers". He decided that Scarlet was an appropriately diva-ish nickname and it stuck. It stuck so well that my Dad started calling me Scarlet permanently, rarely using my given name. I adopted it readily, using it for my online identity and my penname. One time I was at a soccer game (grade 8-ish?) and he asked one of my teamates if they'd seen Scarlet. One of my mates found me a little later and said "I think your Dad is looking for you. He calls you Scarlet, right?" By grade nine my closest friends and I had pennames for each other. We would write each other elaborate letters that often made no sense and I would always sign mine 'Lady Scarlet'. Today my Dad, my best friend and many of my friends all call me Scarlet instead of my given name.
That's not to say that I don't identify with my given names. They carry a weight of their own and I love them because they were gifted to me. I could never legally change my name and thus part with them. But it pleases me greatly to have both a birth name [given at birth] and a life name [shaped by my actions/interactions].
Other than that ...
I'm a stalker. Yeah, I know it. I have an obsession with people watching. I love to look at all the pretty human beings ... it's just getting close enough to hear the things coming out of their mouths annoys me.
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