When You Learn Your Name

I decide to research my own name last night because I become fascinated by name trends in the United States by decade. I knew my name referred to a Scottish flower, but I never read the legend behind the name.

I learn that the cheerful, sturdy Heather plant decorates the desolate and gloomy moors because, according to a local folk tale, nobody else would.

The sturdy oak was too high-maintenance and wanted better soil. The fragrant honeysuckle only wanted to climb high and not sit low to the ground. The beautiful rose was too delicate for the harsh winds that blew across the moorland. So when the Heather plant volunteered, God was so pleased that he gave her the oak's sturdy bark, the honeysuckle's fragrance, and the rose's beauty.

I like this legend, and I wish I knew it when I was young. I like inhabiting the meaning of it; I can decorate desolate places--the places nobody else will go.

Do you know the story behind your name?