I Feel You, Destiny’s Child

NOVEMBER 7TH, 2019

I love it when someone says my name, and I don't know why. Maybe it's the small gesture of individual recognition that makes me feel special. Maybe it's the performer in me that wants to be noticed and singled out. Maybe I just like the sound of my own name. In any case, I've loved hearing others call out my name for as long as I can remember. The time for roll call in elementary school always gave me butterflies in my stomach, as if my crush were walking up to kiss me. I would anticipate the moment when the teacher would say "Anthony?" and I could enthusiastically say "HERE!!!". Even in middle school and high school when it was no longer cool (and downright embarrassing) to have your name read aloud, I would relish the opportunity to passively utter "here" or "yup" like my fellow apathetic classmates only to be fist pumping the air in my head. When I speak or text with close friends and they use my name, I feel a level of intimacy with them that is much stronger than if we had only used nicknames or pronouns. On the flipside, I specifically won't use other people's names when I'm feeling vulnerable in a calculated effort for them to not use my own name in return. "A rose by any other name would still smell as sweet." Bullshit! You try sticking a rose in someone's face and saying "Take a whiff of this limp-dicked weed I pulled out of that pile of shit over there" and see how that person reacts. Names are important because they give people, places and things individuality, connotation, and expression. I love feeling closer to someone simply by using their name. I might be alone in this, but it's just how I feel. So go ahead, say my name. Say my name.