Reverb10 Day 23
Prompt: New name. Let’s meet again, for the first time. If you could
introduce yourself to strangers by another name for just one day, what would
it be and why?
::
When I was young, I didn’t like my name. I wanted something more glamorous, like Sasha, Victoria, or Michelle.
Paul McCartney sang about Michelle, my Belle, whereas the only song about Julie was ‘Julie, Julie, Julie Do you Love Me?’ by Bobby Sherman. Paul made me swoon; Bobby Sherman not so much.
Paul cooed to this mysterious Michelle:
“I love you, I love you, I love you.
That’s all I want to say.
Until I find a way
I will say the only words I know that
You’ll understand.Michelle, my belle.
Sont des mots qui vont très bien ensemble,
Très bien ensemble.I need to, I need to, I need to.
I need to make you see,
Oh, what you mean to me.
Until I do I’m hoping you will
Know what I mean.I love you…
I want you, I want you, I want you.
I think you know by now…”
Paul wanted Michelle, loved Michelle, was obviously hot for Michelle.
Bobby just kept asking if Julie will be there for him:
Bein’ alone at night makes me sad, girl
Yeah, it brings me down all right
Tossin’ and turnin’ and freezin’ and burnin’
And cryin’ all through the nightWhoa-oh
Julie, Julie, Julie, do ya love me?
Julie, Julie, Julie, do ya care?
Julie, Julie, are ya thinkin’ of me?
Julie, Julie, will ya still be there?
It’s pretty clear which is swooning material, yes? A young girl makes up so much…
::
As I grew older, I came to appreciate my name until I grew to like it.
Now, as I consciously, and whole-heartedly, long to know this presence that looks out from these eyes, I see how my name, and what is associated with it, can keep me, and others, from knowing and experiencing what I really am.
Yes, the name is necessary to be in the world. And, there is much associated with a name.
There are so many things I made up about Julie. Who Julie is. What she’s like and what she is supposed to be like…two very different things. What she’s loved for and what doesn’t get her that love. What makes her happy and what doesn’t.
In considering this prompt, it seems much more tasty to consider how I would introduce myself to this presence that looks out from behind these eyes. When I consider this, so much falls away.
No matter what I call myself, the truth of this being stays the same. This presence is the one thing that is unchanging, the one thing that has been here all my life, the one thing that has witnessed every moment where identity became meshed with ‘Julie’ and all that the name conjures up.
After all, as Juliet spoke to Romeo:
What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
Would smell as sweet if it had any other name.
Julie is a sweet story that points to this sweet fragrance.
