What they say about Karma...

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." -William Shakespeare

My name is Jamie, but I go by many other aliases. My husband calls me babe; my mom calls me Sweetie; my dad calls me girl, which I undoubtably am; my friends, with whom I have grown up since elementary school, call me Jams because of my love of music; my middle school students call me Mrs. LO, since saying my hyphenated last name takes up too many seconds of their time; my co-workers call me J.Lo...for various reasons. Interestingly enough, I feel a closer connection to all of these nicknames than to the one bestowed upon me at birth. I always felt that Jamie was so plain, so boy-like, so NOT me. Hearing that I was named after my grandfather, James, made it even worse. What girl wants to be told that she was named after a man (no offense Grandpa)?  As a fifth grader, I would dream that my parents had named me Salvatrice, the unique name of my Sicilian great-grandmother. As a teenager, my name was Thalia, and exotic name, given to men who wished to obtain my "digits." "Jamie" seemed hardly big enough to define all that is me: my outgoing personality, my "short fuse," my tell-it-like-it-is approach, my subtle shyness, my anxiety issues, my fountain of wisdom, my mountain of mistakes...yes, Jamie was not a name that could possibly embody all that is me.

Today, while I was preparing this first (not really) blog post to introduce myself and my blog, I was trying to think of something exciting to tell you about me or something profoundly interesting that would make you want to read my blog. Sadly, today was the first day in my short 25 years of life that I realized my name is not what defines me; it is not what makes me interesting, or what people recognize me as. I am babe, Sweetie, girl, Jams, Mrs. LO, and J.Lo. I am the granddaughter, and name-sake, of a wonderful man, James, who I know is watching over me from above. I am a young lady who is trying to write a blog to share her feelings, her experiences, her highs and lows, her insane ideologies in the hopes that one person may read it and have a chuckle, or a cry, or say, "Oh, my God! I can totally relate!" So, I will tell you again, my name is Jamie, but what I'm really telling you is that I am an imperfect, unpredictable, opinionated, compassionate, humorous, loving person who would love for you to come along on this journey with me. I can promise that it will be nothing short of an unforgettable experience :) Until next time...