Ashima..."endless...limitless...without boundaries" is what the description said on the website I googled. I had been watching The Namesake on HBO, unwinding after a self-imposed relaxing day. The main character's mother's name was Ashima. She chooses to leave the US and return to India after the death of her husband. "Just like your name," says the girlfriend of the main character, Gogol. "You want to be free...without boundaries," she adds.
A beautiful name, I thought, as I checked my email messages while watching the movie. And there it was, the name Ashima again! But this time, it was in my Inbox, part of a message I received from an interesting, artistic, talented woman I recently befriended. Talk about coincidences! It turns out that Ashima is the name she gave to her little baby daughter, hence her email address.
A name is never just a word or two. In The Namesake, the leading character initially dislikes the name his father has given him. Throughout the course of the movie he learns the history behind the giving of his name, and finally at the end of the movie's journey, he gains an appreciation of his name and how much it is a part of his very own exsistence.
I've always been fascinated by names, by the thought and emotions that go behind the thinking up of a name for a child. Often its not as profound as we romanticize it to be. And yet, each name has a story behind it...a life of its own, in a sense, which may or may not bond with the person to whom the name is given.
What does your name mean? What is the meaning behind the meaning? The story that led that name to manifest itself in you, or has it? or have you decided to stick to a nickname that you find "suits" you more?
What name would you give to the product of your life's passion? No, not your children or your family. But that which you give life to as a result of your creative heart and mind, hardwork, and hours of sweat and tears (of both joy and frustration!)...pieces of your life's "Legacy Scrapbook."
Life's too short to spend it doing things we don't like. And as Seth Godin says in his latest book, Tribe, life is way too short to be mediocre. It's not enough to be "just okay". You need to be REMARK-able. You need to know that when you produce something - an idea, a product, a thought, a word a sentence a piece of written work - it is more than just "okay". It has to be great.
Never be satisfied with "oh, it was okay"...it's an insult to those who depend on you, who know you can do so much better if you really cared. More importantly, you're also insulting yourself...as well as the dreams and thoughts and hopes that were bestowed upon you by those who helped bring you into this world in the name you were given.
So as you think back about 2008, perhaps you can also ask yourself what have you done to live up to your name - in its entirety - and what you can do in 2009 to be great!
Can you state your first New Year's resolution in a six-word sentence? 2009 in six words... what will your sentence be? What name will you give the product of your passion in 2009?
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