What's in a Name?

At last week's Celebrate! we tried something interesting.

We brainstormed a list of names. We wrote them down and made slips of paper and took turns drawing a name.

We would take a moment to notice how we felt saying to ourselves, "My name is X," and then we would introduce ourselves to the group.

Wow. It was so interesting to notice how my physical body shifted to accommodate the name. One name made the muscles under my cheekbones clench, another name made my upper chest contract. The third name I drew was the most potent for me. She has a lot of the characteristics that I think I want, but she felt so unhappy. Or I felt so unhappy. Or something. Anyway, we asked each other questions about our lives in that name and then marveled at the responses. It was kind of intense.

Subsequently, I've been writing from the POV of my big name, the third name I drew. I found that while she has a lot of what I would like, the cost has been big. It made me think about how I want to achieve my goals and what I'm willing to trade internally for them.

When we finished the exercise it was such a relief to go back to being Pam. Phew.