As I grow into a new person with a new pattern of behaviors, I am haunted by the name that has followed me through drug addiction, gender confusion, self-inflicted pain, dishonesty and deceit. But what is in a name, really? Shakespeare’s very own Juliet describes a name as fluid: that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. Japanese Proverb states the importance of a name: tigers die and leave their skin; people die and leave their names. So, as I go into a new life with new discoveries, new hurdles and new ways of thinking, do I chain myself to the moniker that has been ever-so-strongly wrapped around me since birth, or do I mark this new beginning with a brand new title?

Micah                        Dakota

Gwendolen               Aiyanna

Serenity                    Virginia

Hurit                         Sajdah

River                         Aiya

More in a bit.