I have disliked the name my mother gave me for as long as I can remember. I tried talking with her about changing it one time during my childhood, and her reaction was such that it has taken me into my sixties to reconsider the issue. Can you imagine sixty years of feeling disconnected from your own name?

My mother passed away twenty years ago, and my father about 2.5 years ago. There is really nobody left whose feelings I can hurt by changing my name. There are many people who will have to work on getting used to calling me by a different name (including me!), but that’s OK. One of my children changed the name that I gave them, I was hurt, and I got over it. I can call my child by the name that makes them happy, and I would hope people will do the same for me.

So why Emet (pronounced Eh-MET)? It means truth, and it expresses that finally, with well over half my expected lifespan behind me, I want to live truthfully as me – not trying to fit into the image that other people have created for me. I saw someone using it on a Zoom (a SVARA Zoom, natch), and it just struck such a deep chord with me.

To quote Hillel the Elder, if I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I?

If not now, when?

I’m curious to know whether you have ever thought of changing your name, and what the outcome was. It’s surprisingly complex to do in our electronic age!