What's in a name?

When I was growing up I went through a phase when I had loads of pen-pals, mainly from Sweden but for a while I even exchanged letters with a boy in Tanzania, although that came to an abrupt halt when he suddenly proposed, and we all realised that he was more man than boy (and rather confused about my age - I was only 11).

Blogging is kind of like a modern-day alternative to pen-palling, but with the additional opportunity of being completely anonymous should you so wish. The option of keeping your identity secret can be incredibly liberating and no doubt contributes to keeping the creative juices flowing. But herein lies the crux of the matter. It's probably safe to say that most bloggers very quickly become addicted to feedback from others. It's absolutely wonderful to know that someone, somewhere has read my nonsense. But how to get noticed (and comments) if you want to remain anonymous? Because, unless you are a marketing wiz, in the early days of blogging most comments will most likely be from friends and family. And how do you remain motivated if no one sees you? The answer, I think, lies in another question (well strictly speaking two). Why are you blogging, and for whom?

Initially I wanted to tell everyone I know about this blog, but I quickly realised the knowledge that friends and family could be reading my ramblings would be completely counterproductive and inhibiting. After all I started this blog in an attempt to rediscover the joy I once had of writing, not as a means to stay in touch with faraway loved ones. And despite having enjoyed my five minutes of fame tremendously (when I received more than 10 comments for one particular post, thank you, thank you) I can still say with some degree of confidence that I blog for me; I write and post daily in order to try and be more creative and to try and create some structure in my life.

But of course I am well and truly hooked on exploring an ever-expanding community of like-minded bloggers. I particularly enjoy reading the profiles of my favourite fellow bloggers, and since many share my desire for anonymity I always wonder what prompts someone to choose a particular nom de plume.

So, what's with the Waspgoddess? Without giving too much away I can tell that no, I’m not a white Anglo Saxon protestant (WASP), nor am I suffering from delusions of grandeur, believing that I am a goddess. Instead my parents chose to bestow upon me an ancient Nordic first name, meaning goddess or goddess-like, so they are really to blame for any divine aspirations I may occasionally have. And when I worked with a woman of Polish heritage in British Columbia about ten years ago, I found out that my name means wasp in Polish. I quite liked the dichotomy of the two and so Waspgoddess became my pseudonym, my alter ego, to use whenever I have a desire to shield my true identity.

Photo by Ron.