Monday September 1 2025
Almost three months have passed since I first felt the impulse to change my name. I’m amazed at how clearly that idea came to me in the middle of June. I was not unsure about this. I knew clearly, in a truly epiphanic way, that I wished to change my name to Daisy, and that I wished for my identity to embrace the qualities of both the Masculine and the Feminine. I was less sure about how this process would play out, and about how, in a very real way, I would express this change in myself. Although I trusted that things would transpire in a positive manner, I did have fears/concerns about how others would take the news. After a couple of months I can say that the response has been overwhelmingly supportive and loving! I’m so very grateful for my family, friends and community for their unflinching endorsement.
I am continuing to navigate the way in which I’m allowing my identity to settle in. It would seem that I have always been essentially bigender, or Dúal Anam; that I have, since birth, felt a clear resonance with both genders. Like most children growing up in a relatively conservative environment I learned of only two options growing up and I likely learned to suppress the ways in which the Feminine showed up in me. I accepted that I was a male and didn’t really have the language or tools to understand otherwise. When I looked in the mirror I saw myself as male. However it was clear I wasn't like most of the other guys, and I expressed myself in many traditionally feminine ways, so that as I grew and gradually let go of the ways in which I limited my self expression, I allowed more and more of my authentic self to come forward.
It feels right to be Daisy, to acknowledge my inherent womanhood. I’m excited by what I might yet discover about myself as I allow this feeling to resonate within me. I remind myself repeatedly that it is a process and I can enjoy that for what it is. Still, when running on autopilot, I answer the phone, “Hi, Hugh here”, but I’m also introducing myself as Daisy to people who have never met me before and I’m being greeted by those who really get this with enthusiasm and respect.
A couple of days ago I ran into someone I had not spoken with for several months who said upon meeting, “Hey Daisy, great to see you!”
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