Our True Names

Names are funny things. Our parents assign us one at birth and they hope that we'll grow into it. We share these birth names with others. None of them are unique. They are used by our family and our teachers to get our attention at home and at school. The world looks at our names and thinks that they are us, but they’re not. Our true names are something different.

Our true names are what we are; melded together throughout the years, joined vowel by vowel and consonant by consonant in the poetry and prose of our lives. We are everything we’ve ever done, everyone we’ve ever known, everywhere we’ve ever been. We are chemistry and upbringing and education. We are our hopes and our fears and our doubts and our desires. We are what makes us laugh and what makes us cry.

Our birthday cakes become more crowded with letters every year. Each breath aimed at a set of flaming candles adds a syllable or two to our ultimate identity. We are works in progress, stories being written, sounds being formed in the mouth. To know just a small portion of someone’s true name is to know them intimately. Our true names take a lifetime to pronounce and are never spoken aloud. . .