How I Came To Like My Name
Tonight I was wondering what the hell should I write about! It was not a question I was asking myself, but a statement. I have plenty of ideas, and even more places I can go to get more ideas. I have tons of prompts I could answer, but none of those were grabbing me and driving me here to pound the keys. There was a suggestion tonight from a very dear friend overseas; but that idea will take some powerful shaping, so not a great one for blogging babble. I do plan on tackling it as it is a very intersting challenge! Ja!
And, so, I decided I was not going to blog tonight. However, that would be sinful - even for a Universal Unitarian! Sinful because I made a promise to myself about writing. It is time to take it serious. It is time to put all those nice compliments I have received throughout time in front of my little inner put-me-down voice that is always at center stage and stops me from publishing. Sinful because I made this promise to myself recently, and here I am breaking it already! But, there also came contentedness with this frustration. I thought it could mean, maybe, just maybe I was going through what all 'good' writers go through!! I have Writer's Block! What a Revelation! What relief!! I am a 'good' writer! When truth be told? It was just me being me and letting my limited self confidence, mixed with my virgoan stubborness and perfectionism put a halt to things, knowing full well, I could pick it up again tomorrow and would only be bending my commitment of writing at least 1,000 words a day. Not breaking it, just bending it a little.
And then the e-mail arrived. Seems I am not the only stay at home Saturday Night adult online until the wee hours of the morning for entertainment and conversation! (Could that be my real Revelation tonight??) It wasn't an extraordinary email by any means. But it created a need to run to the keyboard and pound out a story!
My name is Dianne Campbell (ok, ok, most of you know that). I was born Diane Campbell (hah! Betcha didn't know that!) I changed my first name in first grade to Dianne - the one with two n's. In my elementary class there were four Diane's. Only one spelled it Dyanne, which we all thought strange. The rest of us were simply Diane. I never knew Diane could have two n's, never saw it, never heard of it. Of course, I was only 7 years old! One day driving to Nana Campbell's house I saw graffitti on some boulders and there it was. Dianne, with two n's. From that day forward I started my name change! Independent little cuss, eh? And now, everyone knows me as Dian-ne. I even will introduce myself as "Dianne, with 2 n's." The only person who refused to convert was my Nana Edmunds, god rest her soul, who at 89 still mailed my birthday card, on time, no matter my address, to Diane Campbell.
But the Campbell name did not stick. I got married and the name went away. Personally, I was OK with that - I never really cared for my full name. I didn't mind Dianne so much (as long as it had two n's!) and I didn't mind Campbell so much (scottish rule), but I never really liked the two put together - it sounded so harsh, too gutteral to me. Not a smooth name that rolled off your lips and put a smile on your face. Like Patricia. Say it. You will see. Dianne Campbell. Patricia Campbell. Ok, maybe not a huge difference, but Patricia was my favorite name because back then, at the intellectual age of seven, I knew it was smoother, sexier and would be a name you would remember!
Then I got divorced, and my maiden name returned; once again, I was Dianne Campbell. I honestly wasn't too happy about having it back again, but at the same token, it is my maiden name, for better or worse. (No wait, that was suppose to be the married name commitment, wasn't it?) Time passes and yes, writing has become a very important piece of who I am, or who I want to be. As I was putting myself out there in print, I was struggling with using my real name. Mainly because I still don't really like it all that much and at the same time trying to figure out how you get printed with a pen name, but paid to your real name (after all, what good is a pen name if everyone knows it?) The pen name was my safety net too! If I really suck at this, it isn't really me who sucks at it, it is that other person with the wonderfully smooth flowing and sexy sounding name! And if I am successfully at this writing thing, then imagine the excitement when articles are found by that awesome author who once had a pen name!! Oh ya, I had it all figured out. Except how to manage it all.
A good friend offered a sugggestion to google myself. She didn't have any specific reason relating to my current dilemna, but simply thought I should. And, so I did. To my amazement, over 200 Dianne Campbell's popped up! I was shocked! And completely taken back -- how could so many have such an awful name??!! That was my first thought - honest! My apologies to all you Dianne Campbell's! For whatever reason this new realization just would not go away. I still couldn't believe there were that many of us out there - absolutely mind boggling to me. And like anything, if it is mind boggling and won't leave my head, then it must mean I am suppose to do something about it!
That is how the group, "Will The Real Dianne Campbell Please Stand Up". was created in Facebook, by me, the Founder and First Dianne (as I titled myself.) My search found some 90+ "me's" and after creating the group, I let the emails roll out. It has been a real hoot, there is no other word that can describe it and our little group membership is growing daily! We are crafting a questionnaire to get to know each other better. For sure, one queston we won't have to ask is, "What is your name?" I have grandiose visions and see this group blossoming out into Yahoo groups encompassing a more global market until we decide it is time to petition for a Dianne Campbell Day and get our name on the calendar! Who knows, maybe even meet up? Can you imagine the hotel reservation desk?? I see utterly fun chaos!
Yes, the email I recieved was from one of my new friend's, Dianne Campbell. I don't know where she is from and I don't know that much about her yet. What I do know is, unlike myself, she was aware the name we share is a pretty common one, that there were probably are a lot of us out there, and agrees my network group is a real 'hoot'. And she likes her name. You know... I think I do too.
Dianne Campbell signing off and thanking Dianne Campbell for a reason to write tonight!
And, so, I decided I was not going to blog tonight. However, that would be sinful - even for a Universal Unitarian! Sinful because I made a promise to myself about writing. It is time to take it serious. It is time to put all those nice compliments I have received throughout time in front of my little inner put-me-down voice that is always at center stage and stops me from publishing. Sinful because I made this promise to myself recently, and here I am breaking it already! But, there also came contentedness with this frustration. I thought it could mean, maybe, just maybe I was going through what all 'good' writers go through!! I have Writer's Block! What a Revelation! What relief!! I am a 'good' writer! When truth be told? It was just me being me and letting my limited self confidence, mixed with my virgoan stubborness and perfectionism put a halt to things, knowing full well, I could pick it up again tomorrow and would only be bending my commitment of writing at least 1,000 words a day. Not breaking it, just bending it a little.
And then the e-mail arrived. Seems I am not the only stay at home Saturday Night adult online until the wee hours of the morning for entertainment and conversation! (Could that be my real Revelation tonight??) It wasn't an extraordinary email by any means. But it created a need to run to the keyboard and pound out a story!
My name is Dianne Campbell (ok, ok, most of you know that). I was born Diane Campbell (hah! Betcha didn't know that!) I changed my first name in first grade to Dianne - the one with two n's. In my elementary class there were four Diane's. Only one spelled it Dyanne, which we all thought strange. The rest of us were simply Diane. I never knew Diane could have two n's, never saw it, never heard of it. Of course, I was only 7 years old! One day driving to Nana Campbell's house I saw graffitti on some boulders and there it was. Dianne, with two n's. From that day forward I started my name change! Independent little cuss, eh? And now, everyone knows me as Dian-ne. I even will introduce myself as "Dianne, with 2 n's." The only person who refused to convert was my Nana Edmunds, god rest her soul, who at 89 still mailed my birthday card, on time, no matter my address, to Diane Campbell.
But the Campbell name did not stick. I got married and the name went away. Personally, I was OK with that - I never really cared for my full name. I didn't mind Dianne so much (as long as it had two n's!) and I didn't mind Campbell so much (scottish rule), but I never really liked the two put together - it sounded so harsh, too gutteral to me. Not a smooth name that rolled off your lips and put a smile on your face. Like Patricia. Say it. You will see. Dianne Campbell. Patricia Campbell. Ok, maybe not a huge difference, but Patricia was my favorite name because back then, at the intellectual age of seven, I knew it was smoother, sexier and would be a name you would remember!
Then I got divorced, and my maiden name returned; once again, I was Dianne Campbell. I honestly wasn't too happy about having it back again, but at the same token, it is my maiden name, for better or worse. (No wait, that was suppose to be the married name commitment, wasn't it?) Time passes and yes, writing has become a very important piece of who I am, or who I want to be. As I was putting myself out there in print, I was struggling with using my real name. Mainly because I still don't really like it all that much and at the same time trying to figure out how you get printed with a pen name, but paid to your real name (after all, what good is a pen name if everyone knows it?) The pen name was my safety net too! If I really suck at this, it isn't really me who sucks at it, it is that other person with the wonderfully smooth flowing and sexy sounding name! And if I am successfully at this writing thing, then imagine the excitement when articles are found by that awesome author who once had a pen name!! Oh ya, I had it all figured out. Except how to manage it all.
A good friend offered a sugggestion to google myself. She didn't have any specific reason relating to my current dilemna, but simply thought I should. And, so I did. To my amazement, over 200 Dianne Campbell's popped up! I was shocked! And completely taken back -- how could so many have such an awful name??!! That was my first thought - honest! My apologies to all you Dianne Campbell's! For whatever reason this new realization just would not go away. I still couldn't believe there were that many of us out there - absolutely mind boggling to me. And like anything, if it is mind boggling and won't leave my head, then it must mean I am suppose to do something about it!
That is how the group, "Will The Real Dianne Campbell Please Stand Up". was created in Facebook, by me, the Founder and First Dianne (as I titled myself.) My search found some 90+ "me's" and after creating the group, I let the emails roll out. It has been a real hoot, there is no other word that can describe it and our little group membership is growing daily! We are crafting a questionnaire to get to know each other better. For sure, one queston we won't have to ask is, "What is your name?" I have grandiose visions and see this group blossoming out into Yahoo groups encompassing a more global market until we decide it is time to petition for a Dianne Campbell Day and get our name on the calendar! Who knows, maybe even meet up? Can you imagine the hotel reservation desk?? I see utterly fun chaos!
Yes, the email I recieved was from one of my new friend's, Dianne Campbell. I don't know where she is from and I don't know that much about her yet. What I do know is, unlike myself, she was aware the name we share is a pretty common one, that there were probably are a lot of us out there, and agrees my network group is a real 'hoot'. And she likes her name. You know... I think I do too.
Dianne Campbell signing off and thanking Dianne Campbell for a reason to write tonight!
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