What’s in a name – The beginning

Have you ever wondered about your name? Where did it come from, what does it mean and what played a part in the decision of it becoming your name? While we have no control over our name, it remains what we answer to during our lifetime. Whether we like it or not, it will forever be our name. 
Have you ever asked your parents how your name was chosen and what facts played a part? I don’t know about my name and I never had the chance to ask. All of a sudden I wonder, out of the blue im curious. Was it the sound and did it have a certain ring, was there a meaning behind the name that was appealing, or was it merely just the most current and popular name at that time? Perhaps my parents knew somebody, maybe a friend with that name and honorably I was named after them. My middle name is after my Mom’s sister who is my godmother, but I don’t know about my first name. I should ask and quench that curiosity sometime. In reality I have a total of four names I go by. My given name, my childhood nickname, my blog name and my trail name. 

My real name, a good, common German name has been a challenge for me living in a foreign country of which the name does not exist. People seldom get it right and most always pronounce it wrong. Somehow letters are added where they don’t belong, while others are skipped and disappear altogether to give it a more familiar look and meaning.

Needless to say that I didn’t want to use my real name for my blog. I wanted to remove the element of confusion and the pressure a foreign name including it pronunciation can present. I wanted it to be personal, unique, something I choose and that would resemble my journey and where life was taking me. The blog was going to be an outlet and I wanted control over the direction and course, downright to it’s name. Further I wanted it to speak to me on various levels, from the core of my beliefs to the magic that runs through my veins and sees all things beautiful. It had to touch on the artist perspective, the wanderer and gypsy, the dreamer and the hopeless romantic, the lover of nature, the optimist and the world of an aspiring free spirit that loves the unconventional life often going against the grain and the ordinary.
And so it was that Rhapsody Boheme was born, originally meant to be Bohemian Rhapsody, but of course taken by none other than Queen and not available. We all remember Bohemian Rhapsody. As the dictionary describes these two words, here is what stood out to me and what in the end found it’s fitting part of my past, my NOW and my newfound motivation for what is to come. 
*Rhapsody = An effusively enthusiastic or ecstatic expression of feeling. (And ecstatic I was, with so much that needed to be said, it was time to stand my ground and start living. It was the perfect time to create and confide in this blog to share the experiences I often couldn’t explain myself). 

A free instrumental composition in one extended movement, typically one that is emotional or exuberant in character. (I have always been an emotional person, wearing my feelings on my sleeve, open hearted, a lover of music and it’s forms of expression. I’m not afraid of being vulnerable or even getting hurt, as everything in life molds us into who we are meant to become. That doesn’t mean that I always like it but I try to remember that there is a reason for everything. And as far as music goes, I believe it often conveys and begins when words can’t explain).

An epic poem, or a part of such a poem as a book of the Iliad, suitable for recitation at one time. (Our life is nothing but a big poem, filled with chapters that ultimately form the book of our life, our legacy and the memory we leave behind. This stood out the most to somebody who helped create my trail name and it couldn’t be more fitting. Stay tuned.)
*Boheme = A person with artistic or literary interests who disregards conventional standards of behavior. (I am an artist, craving to create and dabble in various creative aspects. But I’m also a bookworm, somewhat eccentric, I collect various things found mostly in nature that will find their place later in some artwork I randomly create.

A person that tries to live by the ideals of truth, freedom and love. An individual that lives an alternative lifestyle and is looked upon from society as strange and different. 

Conventional life is ordinary and boring to me for the most part. I know that I don’t fit the norms of such, nor do I feel compelled to comply to the restrictions it brings for me. It doesn’t make me rebellious, I just want to do my own thing. As often as possible, whenever, and I want to be on my own time. I’m sure we all have our own dreams in this matter and I can only speak for myself, but more than ever, I find myself in the pursuit of what sets my soul on fire, with such a passion and without any regard of the expectation and social norms that are set forth for me.

Bohemian is a lifestyle, unbounded by convention and means that you are most likely an artist, musician, anarchist or pot-smoker ha. I did heard it to be helpful for a number of ailments including my rheumatoid arthritis. But you might also have the statue of a warrior and I have the spirit of one for sure. 

Lastly it relates to behavior, unconventional as well, or appearance and the practice of individualistic, relaxed conduct. I have learned to be my own person regardless of approval and I think that our uniqueness and individuality is amazing. Why would we ever want to be anything else than ourselves? It might not always be easy and people might not always relate to you, but some will and those will stand with you all the way. For me it is the only way to live and I was never much of a follower. Even from a fashion point, I always had my own style. I was wearing things not because they were “In” at the time, but because I felt like it and because I liked the combination. Sometimes I got strange looks until my outfits actually became in style as if I had some strange insight to something I could have not possible known. I often was ahead of my time, with a intuition that served me from early on, perhaps a prior life and the memory of such. I will never know and some thing don’t need to be answered even though there is more to be said in another post some day.