“No” Dad said, “you have to sign your entire name.”

“That is my name”

“No, like what is on your ID.”

“Yeah, Dad, that is it.”

“Oh.”

This was more than a year after my divorce.

Ah yes, the big D. The turning point and legal process that began almost exactly 5 years ago and eventually led me to this place. This is long enough without delving deep into the divorce yet but suffice to say: the EX and I are cool but yea, public failure on the record and it was the reason I am now just Joanna June. 

Most of us are all saddled with our formal name yet it comes to define us in so many ways. I heard recently from a new Impossible League friend Deborah that she draws an extra measure of strength from her name as it means in Hebrew “bee” or “bumblebee.” She writes, “I’ve read that the flight of bumblebees defies all that we know of aerodynamics…. But, to Mark Twain’s point, nobody told the bumblebees this so they buzz around just the same!” Deb unquestioningly loves her name and uses it as a reminder that she too “can fly!”

I love that sentiment. I think that your name should be one you are proud to own and share.

“Joanna June” has always been a part of my moniker but I am not the progeny of a long line of Junes. 

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