A name is just a name, right?

It was never a secret growing up that I hated my name. I never wanted to introduce myself to new people and I would mumble my name so quiet nobody could ever understand me, which made it worse. To this day, I couldn't even really tell you why I hated it so much, just that I did. But growing up I was never allowed to have any nicknames or call myself anything different. So I learned to live with it, I mean a name is just a name right? No big deal, right?

Fast forward 23 years and a whole lot of therapy later, I came to the realization that it's never too late to start living the way you want. You really can just decide that one day, you're done living your life to others' standards and just do what you want. I started to intensely research different names and experimenting with what sounded best to me, because the only person I care about pleasing anymore is myself. So about a year ago, any time I would go somewhere new I would introduce myself as Devon. And it felt great. I was actually proud to introduce myself, proud to be known. It is without a doubt the most freeing feeling in the world to start to be true to yourself.

I know some people probably judge me. Or they question why it is such an important topic to me. But to me, it is important and that is all that matters. Since I have started to be true to myself I have made more authentic connections, I have been able to grow more into my social media presence, and all around I just feel more refreshed. I cannot wait to see what else is in store for me in this life now that I am only making decisions for me.