Everything Eric

I love my name. But together, they are not phonetically rhythmic. Think abour Madonna, Britney Spears, John Lloyd Cruz, and Hugh Hefner. These names are fun to utter. But my name.. The stresses don't seem to jump like fireworks.

James Eric Garcia. James Garcia. Eric Garcia. James Eric Aquino Garcia.

I think it could have been better if Eric came first. During my first work, I spent the whole school year as a teacher with my name in many files as Eric James Garcia for the mere reason that the secretary of the school when I arrived there felt it better that way. Even the first copy of my contract had my name that way.

I decided to be known as Eric in 2010 as part of 'moving on' from some stuff I was leaving behind. That's why in my 2nd work, the first few people who knew me would call me James. (My apologies to them for the confusion). I chose to be Eric because the name sounds fancier.

And I think that it's too passe to have the letter J as the first letter of one's name. I find the letter E very meaningful more especially because most of my favorite words begin with it. Euphoria. Eccentric. Ecstatic. Electric. Enigma. Explain. Elaborate. Emphasize. Enamored. Everything! Everything E!

My names have meanings which I don't know whether they encourage me or mock me. "James" came from a Hebrew word meaning "supplanter." I am not sure though what thingamajigg would I be supplanting. If there is a person out there in my life who is so great then let me know, I'd be glad to take over his or her position. That's if I could handle it.

There are three meanings of the name "Eric" from the Old Norse. These are "forever," "alone," and "ruler" (Double-meaning: I'm good at lengths--hahaha). Does this push me in becoming a forever lone ruler? And if so, of what? That's yet for me to find out.

My friend Osonnie likes her name because her name is very unique. Actually, it is a combination of her parents' names. If I were to create a name for myself, I would definitely want to invent one. But there are other names I would choose to have which are not really common like "Trevor" or "Kiyoshi." (When I say common name here, I mean, at least in the Philippines).

However, pretty much, I love my name. It is just incredible how much our names could take us into many thoughts. Our names are not mere utterances nor alphabets. Cliche, but, they give meaning to us. They made us who we are. Without them, we would never be where we are now. Without them, we would never know who we really are. And without them, how would people know us? Like I used to usually tell my students: Do not let your names be spelled on your birth certificate and your tombstone; Let it be spelled across the globe.

How about you? Have you ever wondered much about your name?