January 17

Quote of the Day

Name is a fence and within it you are nameless.

Samuli Paronen

I am not sure what it is about this quote that stops me in my tracks whenever I read it. I don´t know what to make of it, but it gets me thinking. And rethinking. And thinking some more.

What´s in a name?

And by a name I don´t necessarily mean just our first, middle, and family names, but our religions, races, ethnicities, the cities and countries we come from, the sexual orientations we hold, or whatever else could be used to define us or to box us.

What does it really mean to be white? or black? or mixed?

Who am I because I am called a Christian?

What does the fact that I have a mixed ethnic background make me?

Does it mean anything, really?

I won´t go into my answers to these thoughts, but just looking at the questions in black and white seems to somewhat point at the triviality of such lables.

But how am I nameless within the fences of my names, and what does that mean?

That no one can see me behind those fences?

Tomorrow I fly back to my life as a New Yorker.

What does that mean?