Call You By Your Name A Branding Love Story
Receiving my new name was like falling in love.
It came on me in an instant… it didn’t look like I thought it “should” and yet, it felt like heaven, a soft kiss of amber light and tingles down my spine. Like warmth… like bliss…
I was afraid of making the commitment.
“What if this is just a phase? What if I can’t stick to it? What if people think I’m crazy for moving this quick? What if they don’t understand me?”
All questions that my clients have asked me for years.
So what does changing my name have to do with my job as a Spiritual Business Coach?! Here, we’ll answer that question along with what to title yourself and how to put words around the infinity that is your work?
And I’ll share with you the story of finding my truest essence.
FRICTION IS THE FREQUENCY OF YOUR “CALLING”
I felt my new name calling me for years.
Maybe, you, too, feel the call of your soul to something new.
It’s easy to get frustrated. It’s easy to see the destination, the dream, and be unhappy with what is present. Please take your time and celebrate the process.
Friction is the resonance of your calling. An internal conflict that says, “We can’t stay here.” This noticing is the first step to transformation.
My former last name, Jamison, inspired remarks like, “Oh, like the whiskey?” I corrected people for years, “Jamison with an ‘i’ not an ‘e’.” In spite of my correction, the first resonance of my name was alcohol.
My former first name, Meg, is so dear. My parents picked this 3-letter name after a cute, little girl in a movie that they loved. It’s always felt too “young” for me. Throughout my life, I’ve been called “Mae”, “Maggie”, “Mag”, “Megan”, because even I have a hard time pronouncing my name clearly. My Spanish-speaking friends have it the worst… because “g” isn’t easy to pronounce.
I want my name to be easy and clear and essential, to land on me with a sweetest. I want my name to require no clarification.
And so friction was created between my current version and this new Self.
Every time, I put “Meg Jamison” on a dotted line, I felt this gap and my name began to die.
DEATH IS THE ONLY WAY
It’s the only way to get to a new horizon.
It is the law of the Universe.
In order for something to be reborn, it must die.
And death encroaches and impends, so does our fear.
I have always thought it was “a little bit much” to take on a new name. So afraid of what people would think, afraid of judgement…
Yet that fear is so innate to all of us - the fear of being recognized, of being “too much”, of taking up too much space.
It’s hard to let go of the old.
Growing is painful. It’s even harder to live knowing that you are clinging to something that doesn’t serve you.
It’s funny that we use the word “calling” to describe a life path. We say things like, “I felt called to switch careers.” “My calling is to work with female entrepreneurs.”
This is when our fear of transformation comes in most intensely.
We feel this “calling” as a force outside of our self summoning us to something more. It’s a desires placed there by a force outside of our control…
Yet, we so often resist, because we love control.
At the same time, we also love feedback and encouragement from other entities. Trusting in “God” or the Universe is too insane, crazy, superstitious, and non-sensical.
So, we allow others to play God|dess for us - tell us what we’re good at, where we should go, and what we should do. It feels good to get validation in humans… for a moment. Then, we allow other people to give us a name, a label, an identity. Overtime, these worn out scripts feel like drudgery, like manufactured wishes, and like silly fortune cookies.
These scripts make “sense” but they’re boring.
If you’re over the archetype of the past, there comes a time to say, this is who I am.
Call me by MY name.
COLLECTING THE PIECES OF YOUR PURPOSE
It doesn’t always come in a flash of clarity. Over a period months, I collected pieces for my new name.
The first piece came unceremoniously in a ice cream parlor.
I sat, licking a blue butterfly vegan cone, with a man who had just been given his Aztec name at an initiation in Nashville. Our meeting was synchronistic. We spoke about death and the medicine wheel.
At the end of our time, he asked for my name; I spoke clearly.
“Night?” He repeated back.
“No, my name is Meg.” He laughed and said, “Are you sure about that?” “This is not how it’s supposed to go,” I thought. I still couldn’t shake the feeling that somehow this was my name.
A few weeks later, I’m in the bath, reading a beautiful Tantric text, getting my mind blown by every line. I turn the page and see a list of words. I heard audibly, “Your name is here.” I sat up straight, read the entire list aloud, proudly, so that I could feel the resonance... I got nothing, no feels. “This is stupid,” I thought and stood up to get out of the tub.
ATTUNING TO VIBRATIONAL SUMMONS
Three night later, I’m still being called to the bath.
Here it is again, the word “calling”.
I turn the page. I see, “Maya(Concealing),” in all caps.
Something shifts.
I read these words aloud,
“[Shiva] decides to conceal himself in creation, just for the joy of remembering himself again.”
Cue full body chills and rapturous tears.
I knew in that moment, beyond mind or thought, “I am Maya.”
As you first start to listen into to your guides, to the Universe, to nature, to the animals, you will tune into the sensitivity of being psychic again. Words will start to resonate as important symbols. These symbols will help you realign around your truth.
You’ll cry when you feel the wind.
A simple graze from a lover will send you into ecstatic visions.
A young fawn leaping by will let you know that you’re own the path.
You’ll begin to develop your own sacred relationship with the elements, the natural and spirit world, through your own experience and understand.
You’ll regard these symbols, every one, as a signal from the divine, a vibration.
You will trust these vibrations more fully than your “knowing”, more fully than your “mind” or even the sensations of your “body”, these energetic vibrations will ripple your spine and do one thing for you.
Provide you with unquestioning doubt that your path is clear.
TRUST.
LET IT BE SO… WITHOUT QUESTION
The next day, I told everyone in my family and now I’m telling you.
Don’t ask; don’t seek approval for your new direction.
Recognize where your ego is involved and pray for humility.
See all of the ways that your redefinition will be in-service to the collective.
Photo by Kelly Eileen & Co
My name is Maya Night.
This is my name. It will remain this way until I say otherwise. I claim my expanse. I acknowledge that these words resonate with my purpose and my mission to integrate souls through ShadowWork and inspire all of us to be more full here, in the maya, and to remember our divinity.
It’s okay to be the center of attention.
Let yourself be your own nucleus. Let yourself revolve around your soul purpose. Allow your own desires to be the epicenter of your life.
You get to be the name that feels most magical to you. Those who love you will not find this inconvenient. Let that set in. If you feel like shifting your name, your job title or services to access the next dimension of you, DO IT.
Your vibration is your choice.
When you claim it with clear eyes, a strong center and pure intent, you won’t be questioned. Hold space more fully for the life of your dreams and you will simultaneously hold that space for all of us.
I am here to encourage you.
BE WHOEVER THE FUCK YOU WANT TO BE.
YOUR TRIBE LOVES YOUR FLUIDITY
The goddess/god tribe that loves you will call you by your own name. They won’t label, restrict or seek to confine you.
As you evolve, look for the people who don’t bat an eye, the ones who genuinely celebrate when you expand. They may not be the most conventional; your ego will need to die to this too. These are your people. Lean into them.
I’m so grateful to my closest friends have been said, “Damn, Maya Night, is sexy,” or, “I got full body chills hearing your name,” and, “Yes, of course, I’ve known that was you all along,” without question or judgment.
Those same people will support you in other massive life decisions, as you begin to reinvent yourself almost daily.
This is the joy of living fluidly.
CALLING IN YOUR NAME
As you think about renaming yourself in your work, which I highly recommend that you do. These are my advisements based on my years of work in copywriting/branding and with entrepreneurs. Make them your own.
Let your name inspire you.
Sure, your name should be descriptive, but first, you should LOVE saying it. Use a few words that have an energetic quality which inspires you first. Your clients come second here.
Let your name be clear to others.
This is when we wrap in your clients. Use at least one word that is clear in defining your service to the world… If you’re a coach, please just use the word “coach” in your title. Clarity creates trust.
Let it be so.
Stick the delivery if you want people to remember it. Try to avoid switching your naming convention/job title every 3 months. Stay with one phrase for at least 6 months and be consistent. The transition period is tricky, but only if you waffle. Repeat your new job title or a description of your work as a mantra while you drive to work or sit at home.
Hold space for evolution.
When it comes time to evolve(and this goes for everything, beyond your name and your title), give yourself the opportunity to grow. When the time comes, let it all die to be reborn.
I love you forever,
Maya Night
Still can’t figure out what your biz/life is evolving into OR how to label your offering/job title/etc?
I am here to support you.
If you’re an entrepreneur/service-based business who wants a unique blend of embodiment, healing practices, holistic life coaching with branding work, the 1:1 Mentorship is unlike anything else that exists in the world of online/business coaching. We’ll capture the truest essence of you and create you brand from this space.
If you’re curious, you can fill out the application below and we’ll jump on a vision call to immediately start generating clarity for you! Check out the link above to learn more.
