The Name Game

Hi, my name is Aurien, but you can call me Auri.

This is not my birth name.

When you ask me my birth name, it makes me incredibly uncomfortable and hostile.  To me, my birth name is for someone who is not me, kind of like an old childhood friend who I used to know.  I don't associate with that person anymore, except for those late, late nights of faith-seeking with close, personal friends.

When you ask me my birth name, I feel super invalidated, because it's as if the person I am today and the name I have chosen for myself don't matter over the name my mother chose for me.

When you ask me my birth name, I feel like you're phishing for information that is not relevant to you.  People make assumptions based on that name and oftentimes feel entitled to use it, even when I have told them what I prefer to be called.

When you ask me my birth name, I will choose to decline to answer.  Please excuse the sneer; there's a lot of baggage that goes with my birth name.  Baggage I am slowly unpacking so that I can travel more swiftly down the path towards my bright future.

To be on the safe side--and to avoid the massive shade I will throw you--don't ask me my birth name.  Instead, you can ask about my latest baking adventure, where I grew up, or what type of art I like to create.

And if you have known me by my birth name, please do not use it without my express permission.  Doing otherwise could result in a dissolution of our relationship.