What's with the name?
Well, it is used for identification purposes, right? But, do you know that in many cultures, they believe that a person's name provides a clue as to the life he/she will lead?
I guess, that's why in the Philippines most girl's names have Mary or Maria or Marie so they will forever be connected to our Mother Mary, and hopefully emulate her values.
My family and relatives call me Gigi. When I went to school, my teachers and classmates called me by my second name, Gemma. My first name is really Maria, yes, I will forever be grateful I am connected to Mama Mary. To differentiate one Maria to another, we are called by our second names instead.
It was when I introduced myself to my co-teachers in New Orleans, Louisiana - to the first school I was assigned to teach and I told them my name, Gemma, I had to say it a few times, and they still couldn't pronounce it! Oh well, I told them to call me Maria instead, and easily they responded. From 2007 on I was Maria to my co-workers, credit card companies, and all of the succeeding documents I had to sign.
And then this year, for some beautiful reason.... I joined the Public Education Department of the state of New Mexico. In the federal program that I am coordinating, there were two Marias and one Mario. My boss said there was too many Marias in our bureau so I might as well use my second name, Gemma. Nice!
So now, I had to reintroduce myself and let everybody get
Funny, when I told them my nickname is Gigi, they were like, "Oh I like it too!"
We all have our preferences by how we want our names pronounced, how we want to be called and addressed.
In my lifetime, I guess I just never thought I'll be using all my names, but I did! Never mind the pronunciation or the accent. It's still me!
Even with the name changes, I was able to keep who I really am, deep down.
Although sometimes, the Maria isn't the Gemma I used to be. Maria seemed so quiet, serious, and "nose bleeding" all the time! Lol..., Gemma is more the real thing! Lol.
I am not sure about life's path and its connection to my name though...
