What’s in a Name?

Powell’s Bookstore in Portland is crazy. I haven’t seen this many books in one place since libraries at colleges housed books instead of computers. Makes me think that I might be able to write a book at some point. Anyway, my struggles to write a blog post seem trivial when I look at all these books.

Scout. Claire and I (Claire in particular) love the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. We have always thought Scout would be a great name for a dog, but we haven’t used it yet. I think Scout is a hard name to live up to. We considered Scout instead of Wilson, but it was clear from day one our Weimaraner couldn’t pull it off. He’s a Wilson. We should have named Ori (our GSP rescue) Scout, but we weren’t sure she could live up to it when we first met her. She totally could have pulled Scout off. But Ori, short for Oriental, is a good name for her too. However, she could have been a Scout…. It is funny how we often do that, make assumptions about whether someone can “carry off” or “live up to”  a name. Anyway, Scout seems a solid choice for a sailboat. Given we want to go sailing for 5-7 years, it is unlikely we will use the name for a dog any time soon. In TKAM, Scout was questing and mischievous and adventurous. A character whose name conjured the traits that defined her. When we bought Sturdy, we knew that Sturdy was not the right name for the boat for our journey. Don’t get me wrong, Sturdy is a good name for a boat. You would like to think that it would define itself.  But, Sturdy doesn’t encapsulate us. It conjures safety and not taking chances – the path most traveled. We will be safe, but we will take some chances. We want to go places where other people don’t regularly go. Not because it’s dangerous, but because it is more difficult to get there. And we believe the journey is a big part of the adventure – good and bad.  Additionally, we want to embrace spontaneity, knowing that it will help guide us.  Many of of favorite experiences have resulted from spontaneous acts.  We aren’t waiting until everything is “perfect” to leave.  We would never leave.  And we won’t wait for it to be perfect to get from point A to point B. We are taking risks – measured risks – but nonetheless, risks. Sturdy doesn’t fit.

As we struggled to rename Sturdy, we thought about Cuchulain, but that was a boat for a different time. We also thought “Better Together” a good choice; however, while it encapsulates who we are, it just didn’t feel quite right for the Kelly Peterson. So, we settled on Scout given that we needed to change the name when we did the title to avoid another filing fee. And so, we sent the paperwork in before we had spent any time on her. Before we had gotten to know her, and we now think Scout is not her name.

That leads to the question — What’s in a name? And how do you know when you find it?

My time roaming the shelves at Powell’s convinced me that names are important. I’ve been churning on this issue for a while, trying to decide if it mattered enough to change it. I mean, we like Scout. Scout is a good name for a boat. It’s a hassle to change the name and it costs money to do it. But Powell’s helped convince me. I read title after title and I picked up the books that, sort of, “called to me.” Often, when I flipped to the back and read the jacket, I thought “Hmm, not what I thought.” (Granted, the title might have delivered if i read the thing, but I didn’t buy it – which is the point.)

What’s in a name??? Everything? Nothing?

I lean towards everything, but am closer to the middle. Names are important in that they can summarize complex ideas. Names can epitomize journeys. They can help identify, categorize and define. As I walked through Powell’s, it finally began to crystallize, the name of our boat needs to do all of those things. It needs to signpost and epitomize this time in our life and what the journey is about. Who we are. How we live. That’s a lot of pressure on a name.

Scout isn’t right.

Apparently, we had both been thinking we had the wrong name. Shortly after we got back from our odyssey down the ICW, Claire texts me “we should have named the boat Wabi Sabi” and boom….there was the name. How do you know it’s the right name? You know it when you hear it. So, we are renaming the boat. Good news is we never went through the renaming ceremony – since it was on the hard and we just got the title about a month ago.

Why does Wabi Sabi define our journey? When we were in Singapore together over Thanksgiving in 2016, I went to the museum one afternoon to see an exhibition about British Imperialism (cut me some slack, I was a history major and they had a cool bar on the top floor with smoking drinks and on a whim walked through a pottery exhibit. Claire is a pretty accomplished potter and I wanted to impress her, so I went. Walking through this exhibit of Iskandar Jalil, a 70+ year old potter who started life as a teacher and wanted to make utilitarian pieces, I saw a teapot that had been bumped in the kiln and was dented. Claire had the same thing happen, and I loved her piece. As I read the placard, I noted it described it as “Wabi Sabi” – the acceptance of and finding beauty in imperfection. Just because it was wonky didn’t mean it couldn’t be a great teapot. And it was interesting and different because of its imperfection. I took a picture and texted it to her. Sadly, I can’t find that photo or text, but it was to the effect of that wonky piece of hers was really art and I was embracing Wabi Sabi when I said I loved it…. OK, I was flirting then, but the name stuck and so did the philosophy.

Here’s some background on the exhibit.

“The role of Japanese aesthetics in Iskandar’s craft is seminal, a legacy of his apprenticeship in Tajimi. Wabi-sabi – the Japanese philosophy of accepting imperfect beauty and transience – permeates Iskandar’s works.” From a 2016 article discussing the master potter’s first major showing in Singapore. See http://thepeakmagazine.com.sg/interviews/how-master-potter-iskandar-jalils-works-elevate-a-craft-into-art/

Finding the beauty in imperfection. WABI SABI. Now that is a title, a statement, a name for an old boat and the adventure of her intrepid owners. I mean, at its most literal, what better name for a thirty-five year old boat that we will be doing the work on? Because it sure won’t be perfect! But the journey won’t be perfect either – nothing is. We expect challenges and difficulties and hardships. I know we can overcome those difficulties because Claire and I are truly #bettertogether. And while I didn’t know it, my attitude has been Wabi Sabi since Claire and I began our journey – something new for me – finding joy and happiness in the imperfection of life.