And I’d do it again…
There’s some big thing happening today, or at least that’s what I heard. [heart party face heart]
For me personally, there’s something else big happening.
This week six years ago, I stood in front of an Alameda County judge and legally changed my name. Yeah. It’s my other birthday. My nameiversary.
For over 20 years I went by an alternate name. A name I picked. A name that separated me from my past. A name that gave me permission to be my best self and to live my best life.
It was a therapist I was seeing — while I was deep in the pits of PTSD — who asked why I had never formally changed my name. The question actually shocked me. I didn’t have an answer. But it got me thinking, “Why haven’t I changed it?” It occurred to me that I had nothing to lose and nearly everything to gain. I started the paperwork and not long after, on January 23, 2015, I became “Rusty Blazenhoff.” (Just typing this out gives me some real feelings.)
Did everything miraculously get better overnight? Of course not. But things are A LOT better than they were. I have to remind myself almost every day that the road from “survive” to “thrive” is a long one. In a lot of ways, I feel like I’m just a few steps into my journey. Glad you’re here to be part of it. Thank you.
[For you folks out there who can’t imagine why someone would change their identity, I envy you. I really, really do.]
I will be accepting “Happy Nameiversary” wishes all this week. 🙂
— Rusty Blazenhoff
P.S. Back to today’s big thing, did you see the Field of Flags? Wowsers.
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