Introducing Me ... The Girl Who's Name is a Lie

One of my roommate's friends started a website where he interviews people from around the world asking them to tell a story. I decided to share the story of my name. Sharing that story made me feel a ton of emotions, the main one being creative. I decided that I'd start a blog to channel my creativity and share the stories that make me me.

My name is DaVida and naturally you'd think that is because my father's name is David. You'd be wrong. My mother got a divorce when I was pretty young and I just assumed my father was her ex-husband, David (pretty good assumption considering that's all I was ever told). When I was about 12 I met my real father, Gerald. He came with some interesting additions to my family - including a sister who I already knew (funny thing is when we were young and she'd come to Louisiana to visit her relatives everyone would say we looked like sisters - they were right!) and a grandmother who lived down the street from me my entire life. It's worked out to be a pretty good situation but the whole name thing has been sort of a metaphor for my life.

I have always seen myself as somewhat as a spin artist because of this. For so long when teachers would see my name, they'd say things like, "Is your father's name David?". After I found out it wasn't, it was so much easier to still say yes. I've devised quite a few of those type stories (my fav being that my parents were expecting a boy and when I came they added an "A" to the end). Why? I have found that people don't like to hear long drawn out sagas that imply any hint of "uncomfortableness". They like simple, easy and perfect ... as if it could fit into a box. I learned early on that fitting into the box was just fine with me. I've had quite a history of fitting in (even when people thought I was standing out, it was all my way of fitting in). Now things are different, I have no desire for the first time in my life to fit in or stand out. I want to simply be. I'm a "grown up" (whatever that means) and I just want to be me REGARDLESS of what the world thinks.

Here's the thing, just being me means a lot of different things on different days. Sometimes I'm really mellow and laid back, other times I'm anxious and anal. I am also a lot of different things to a lot of different people. I have learned that to truly know yourself and not just the voices in your head or the words people use to describe you, sometimes you have to just be. Just being is a lot for me because I'm pretty much a do-er. I do things all the time and experiencing sometimes feels like I should be doing something. It is a process and I'm patiently and excitedly going on the journey.

I'm on going through a huge revelation/transformation/period of growth/spiritual awakening and I think it is pretty cool. I'm reading new types of books, being attracted to new people, new theories about life and trying new things. This is a fertile time for me and I'm excited about what is to come. I'll be posting those things that are happening in my world as they happen. It is my life live online - wow! That's pretty cool. I'm finally at a point where I'm ready to accept being myself ... whoever I am today! And YAY for you ... you get to read and watch the transformation.

If you'd like to see the video from www.jaudible.com, here you goes the link - DaVida's Jaudible.



NOTE: So my name has created a bit of a lie but I do believe there is a purpose for everything. While I may not be the daughter of David, I bear a powerful name as a result. Vida means the life in Spanish and Davida is intepreted as the feminine form of David in Hebrew meaning beloved. I'll take the beloved life and that's what I have! Things always work out just as they shouldso I take my name to be an honor.