Individuality

I work for the University of Washington Alumni Association. Sounds fancy, but the actual work isn't. I am constantly bombarded with two things I don't like: names and numbers. God is gracious enough to provide me with a job that doesn't require actual math skills, or else I'd literally hypnotize myself before going to work everyday. But more important than the numbers are the names I come across. It's shameful for me to even think it, but to say it out loud is even worse. The fact is,....,....well, I want another name. I know what you're thinking, "Merry Chris Sison is the most amazing name anyone has ever heard of." But I'm just not feeling it. I believe that one’s name should fit a person’s personality or, in the least, fit one’s face.

I was enjoying Dimsum with a few friends on Martin Luther King holiday and one of them said, “I’m sorry Chris, someone just thought you were a boy.” Point proven!

Let me break it down to you. First, "Merry Chris" sounds way too girly for my taste. Everytime it's uttered out of a person's mouth, it literally doesn't make sense to me. I can't identify with the name. Right now, if someone two-feet away from me was yelling "Merry Chris" from the top of their lungs I wouldn't even look. I'd probably think they were singing some unfinished jingle bells song. Second, "Sison" doesn't go with my first name, or any name that I try to pair it with. No one can even pronounce it right. I can't even pronounce it right! Unfortunately, each time I come across an awesome name, I immediately start imagining my life with that name. It's horrible, I know. I should be glad of the name I have. At least it's not "Loveday Conquest," (actual name I came across one day). My only chance now it to marry someone with amazing last name. Something like "Pitt" wouldn't phase me ;) But the real problem is how to stop myself from envying people with “cooler” names than I do. How do I embrace this name of which I don’t find a sense of “me-ness?”