Who Are You? Names Part I

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet."

Juliet: Act II Romeo and Juliet

When Juliet learns that Romeo’s surname is that of her family’s sworn enemy, she is certainly surprised. However, she’s already decided she’s in love with him; not his last name or his family. She is willing to set aside the issue of family origin and focus on her infatuation or love, depending on the interpretation.

When people use the first sentence of the quote these days, they’re mostly referring to the different terms people use to call things. However, it is a nice way to start this post, since I want to talk about names.

Names mean a lot of things to different people.

I know people who say they don’t mind if they are called by the wrong name. There are some who are also fine if their names aren’t spelled correctly. Either of these is tantamount to an insult for others, however.

Some people live their whole lives being called a nickname. In fact, some of their friends don't even know their real names. There are others who refer to each other by their last names all the time. For some people, their middle name is their preference.

Of course, there are also those who absolutely HATE their names. There are those who dislike their names because they are unusual and hard to pronounce. They are the ones who live in dread when the substitute teacher arrives and calls their name (incorrectly) in attendance. Sometimes they dislike their names because they think their names are dull or boring, or because everyone else has the same one.

For women, there is also the decision to keep their maiden name or to take her married name. There are many reasons to keep your original last name, or even to take your husband’s name. For most women the decision isn’t related to the traditional reasons of old, but rather according to their personal desires.

Our names hold so much meaning and weight for so many of us.

What is the big deal about names?

More to come in my next post....

Man's Search For Meaning, Viktor E. Frankl

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl was first published in 1946. Among the many interesting insights into how people survive in difficult times, Viktor Frankl brought oft quoted words to many leaders of our time. One such quote is:
"When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves."

Frankl's book was written at first as an anonymous recollection of his time in Auschwitz. He wrote it so that people would never forget what had happened in the death camps. After some prodding he agreed to put his name to the text, and later he would add his writing on Logotherapy, a form of psychotherapy he had developed using his learnings and insights into how people survived and didn't survive the horror of the torture of the camps.

For Frankl, his survival came when he realized that they couldn't take away his ability to choose how he saw himself and how he interpreted what was happening to him. As he was suffering numerous medical experiments he chose to remove himself from the pain and instead imagine himself lecturing to his own medical students back at the university. In that moment he became the one in control of his response. His ability to choose his response gave him the ability to survive, to live to tell his story.

Versatile Blogger Award!

Still new to blogging, I was surprised to receive a blogger award on Sunday. This award came from a new blogger in Australia. The Greatest Challenge is her blog, and she received the award the other day.

The award comes with the following guidelines:
1. Thank the person who gave you the award.

2. Share seven things about yourself.

3. Nominate fifteen newly discovered blogs.
4. Let your nominees know about the award.


So, thanks to Liana and good luck to her on THE GREATEST CHALLENGE!

SEVEN THINGS ABOUT MYSELF:

1. One thing about me is that I am extremely claustrophobic. This translates to including being extremely uncomfortable in pitch dark because there is no light for a reference point; therefore it's high anxiety time for me.
2. My grandpa called me Curly and my dad called me Charlie Brown when I was little, I had one other nickname when I was in elementary school, but that was a dumb one a boy called me.
3. The dumb nickname was Goose, because my last name was Heron. The boy was in grade 5 and decided a heron and a goose were both birds so the name was good enough. He called me gosling when he wanted to borrow a pencil. His love was not returned. :-)
4. I've always wanted to write a book and I still do. I have no idea what I want it to be about, if it should be fiction or non-fiction, or anything. I just love to write and want to write a book. I started blogging for a night class; I've continued blogging so that I could have fun writing.
5. I love to create with colour; paint, thread, fabric, and other mediums. I haven't created the right thing, yet. Some things have turned out with thread and fabric, some paint and fabric have worked out ok. But, I still haven't made what I want. My hands don't create what my imagination sees; one day, just maybe, they'll connect?
6. One of my all time favourite days is actually a winter day with a temperature of -15 or - 20 degrees Celcius, lots of snow on the ground, sun in the sky, and no wind. I would spend the day outside. I'd walk, snowshoe, and even sit in the sun on a lawn chair all bundled up and read a book. Later I'd snuggle on a chair inside, in the sunshine and keep on reading my book.
7. One of my very best friends is my grade one teacher. She is 80 something...we don't count. She and I live in different cities so we talk on the phone every two or three months. I try to go to visit her three or four times a year. She is an unbelievable person with an incredible heart. She is pretty incredible.

As for award giving, I have found a few new ones that I went looking for, just for this purpose, that I'll share, and a couple of ones I've been following for a short while. (I've got 10 so far) There are a few that already had this award, or I would have given them one, too!

I will be sure to mention any other great blogs I find in future posts.

*and the Versatile Blogger Award goes to.....    Drum roll please*

1. Louise at Life is Good
2. Anna at Rummey Bears
3. Crafty Gardener
4. Cooking in Someone Else's Kitchen
5. Victoria of Victoria's Backyard
6. Phaedra Alwell of Everyday Simplicity
7. C. Beth at The One-Minute Writer
8. Jaime at Embracing Balance
9. Cowgirl Warrior at WW for Life
10. Jams at Running My Mouth

Thank you, for giving me a great start to the new week. It feels great to be recognize by your fellow bloggers. THANKS LIANA!

To all who get this award from me, I've seen a few who just post their award and say thanks....However, it has been a lot of fun finding new blogs!

Museum of Modern Art, New York

Time was running out before we left New York. The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) is one place that we didn't visit, although we did the MOMA store. They had a number of interesting gifts and a variety of items to purchase for your kitchen, decor, and many other articles.

Their windows were also decorated. Sister P. took those pictures, hopefully they will come through on the posting.

Influence

"No individual rain drop ever considers itself responsible for the flood." ~ John Ruskin

The Time Traveler's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger

Last summer I read The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger since I the movie was coming out soon and I like to read the book first.

If you haven't noticed from my very few posts, I'm a sucker for time travel/science fiction and fantasy. Although the book jumps in and out of past, present, and future, and you sometimes have to take a minute to check where you are, it is a fun and interesting read.
The Time Traveler's Wife is a story about a man (Henry) who has a genetic disorder that causes him to involuntarily travel through time into the past and forward to the future. His wife Claire, is left behind to worry about his travels not knowing where he has gone, how long he will be gone, and what danger he may be facing.

I really liked this book, but I know it isn't for everyone. Some people will just want to watch the movie. The movie is pretty good, too. I liked it, I just liked the book better.

The Manhattan Bridge, New York

The bridges of New York are large and impressive. The Manhattan Bridge brought us into Manhattan from the airport, and took us back to the airport on our way home.

The Manhattan Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the East River in New York City, connecting Lower Manhattan (at Canal Street) with Brooklyn (at Flatbush Avenue Extension). It was the last of the three suspension bridges built across the lower East River, following the Brooklyn and the Williamsburg bridges. The bridge was opened to traffic on December 31, 1909 and was designed by Leon Moisseiff,[1] who later designed the infamous original Tacoma Narrows Bridge that opened and collapsed in 1940. It has four vehicle lanes on the upper level (split between two roadways). The lower level has three lanes, four subway tracks, a walkway and a bikeway. The upper level, originally used for streetcars, has two lanes in each direction, and the lower level is one-way and has three lanes in peak direction. It once carried New York State Route 27 and later was planned to carry Interstate 478. No tolls are charged for motor vehicles to use the Manhattan Bridge.

The original pedestrian walkway on the south side of the bridge was reopened after forty years in June 2001.[4] It was also used by bicycles until late summer 2004, when a dedicated bicycle path was opened on the north side of the bridge, and again in 2007 while the bike lane was used for truck access during repairs to the lower motor roadway. Wikipedia

The bridge is long and tall enough that the thought of taking the pedestrian walkway across was not an option for one of my sisters. We were so busy, anyway, that we did not have time even if we'd wanted to walk across.

Our tour guides spoke of the bridge being originally planned by an Engineer who was later injured on the job and wouldn't go to the hospital because he didn't believe in them. He died of infection and his son took over the construction oversight. His son became ill at some point and his wife was the one who travelled to and from the bridge site delivering messages about the construction. The tour guides often joked that th bridge was the first of its size to be built by a woman.

However history tells the story, it's an impressive sight.