It was my great-grandfather’s name and a certain great king’s name. When I was a kid it was a pain in the ass – I got many unwelcome nicknames from classmates (Salmon, Salamander, Solly) and often had to repeat my name to people, who might mishear it as “Sullivan” or would often, forgetfully, call me “Simon”. But I don’t ever remember wishing I had another name. I felt a kinship to King Solomon – his wisdom and justness. That was recently emphatically reinforced when I came across this beautiful late-16th century Persian painting, Solomon Takes Advice from the Animals, at the Chester Beatty Museum in Dublin. Solomon had the ability to speak to all animals, and, even with his great wisdom, would seek advice from them. The story goes: “One day, he had the opportunity to drink the water of life, and to live forever. Hesitating, he decided first to take advice from the animals and birds. They all gathered at his court, and discussed the great decision. The heron advised the king not to choose immortality. There was only enough water for one person, the bird said, so if Solomon were to drink it, then he would outlive everyone he loved.” I commune with pretty much every animal I see, so I heavily vibed with this! 🦘🫏🐑🦌🐕🐈🦢🐇🦝🦡🐀🐿️🐦‍⬛🦉🦇🐛🐌🐞🪲🕷️🦂🐢🐍🦎🦐🐋🦭🦧🐘🐪
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Jun 8, 2024

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My username for a long time was a play on my maiden name. I don’t want to share it here because y’all don’t need to know all of my identifying information but my last name essentially was two words that straight up said polluted water. SYMBOLIC AS HELL. Anyway… I was frolicking through the woods in the PNW and thought “I’m a lil mossy eflie!” And thus mossyelfie was born. Embracing my true nature untethered to generational curses 🌟
Sep 13, 2024
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I used to hate my name. My mother wanted to name me Mary (after the Virgin Mary) of all things but I ended up with the name “Thuweiba” because my dad ended up naming me. Growing up in a predominately white town it was hard to honor it and I hated my name. I even went to visit Somalia for the first time and my family memebers kept asking my dad why I was given an “American” name. This is far from American lol. My dad’s a history and religion nerd so my name’s pretty archaic. I fucking love it now tho. It’s so darn cool and I’ve never met anyone else with it! ✨ Adds to my individuality complex 😼
Oct 14, 2024
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i just want to appreciate the intuitive people out there that pick accurate names for people/animals/things. its a true talent so satisfying. shoutout to the guy i met the other day who named his dog banana bc she truly was a banana 🥲🫶🏾
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