"a rose by any other name..."

yesterday i let go of one of my fears. i'm not quite sure why but all growing up i hated telling people my middle name. maybe it was the fact that no one could say or spell it right, but i just hated it. i loved the story behind it and how cliche it was, but it wasn't enough to shout it out to the world like that. but yesterday...not really sure what changed but it simply didn't matter anymore.

one of my guy friends asked me what it was and i just told him. it was...shocking, because first he told me it was cute, then...he corrected himself thinking about the name and said it was a beautiful name - or something like that. it was strange. someone had actually complimented me on my name, an honest compliment...without my asking for the pity. and he hadn't teased me about it either.

for the first time i realized that simply embracing myself no matter what unlikable parts of me that that includes, that in the end it will be worth it. not caring whether or not people like my quirks or if they completely annoy them just isn't worth it anymore. not to me.

so i guess from now on when people ask me what my middle name is...they're going to get it. but only verbally...because when it's spelled out they still say it wrong. haha just kidding.

my name is McKaylla Joël White and i love my name.