So What's Your Name?

I know I said my next Entry was going to be about not being the favorite and what it means but I have decided to table that for a little bit. As I have said before my goal in making entries is not to instruct because that will suggest that I know the answers. I know you all want me to have the answers but unfortunately I don't. I only offer my view which may be worth more than a few cents but is really my honest thoughtful view of things.

There are many things about my daily ups and downs that I desire to write about and will write about. As you may have observed, most of the things I blog about are relevant to my encounters and my analysis of different situations so I find that most people who actually enjoy reading the entries are people who appreciate struggle and what it means to work through stuff instead of being handed solutions.

I am going to keep this entry very light and use it as an opportunity to answer a pertinent question that people have asked so far over the course of the blog. It is the most popular question I have received especially from people who know me and it is "So is your real name Kareem?" or some flavor of that question. There is a short answer to that question and there is a long answer to it.

The short answer is No, my (the author's) real name is not Kareem. The long answer is that, I first encountered the name when I met an actor named Kareem about 4 years ago. His demeanor was remarkably refreshing and his humility and personality strangely delightful. I use the word strange because modern culture dictates that humility is an oddity rather than a norm so to encounter one gracious enough to be human and honest was quite strange.

When I encounter another human being who makes me want to be a better person I try to channel the experience creatively either by doing something physically to substantiate the experience or doing something via literature to preserve the experience while allowing others to share in it.

I started writing a weekly pseudo-fictional series with the same title as this blog which I used to post weekly on Facebook in my notes while I was in College. The story line generated some interests and I wrote 6 entries, I believe they are still there for those who want to check it out. Although I got the opportunity to be creative I couldn't write as often as I wanted to during college and I wanted to extend the platform to cover many other topics that pseudo-fiction will not permit me the forum to address. And that brought me in a round about way to the world of blogging.

So what is in the name, Do I want to be like Kareem, is it an alter ego, Is it completely Random? My rambling from the previous paragraphs answers the last two questions. No it is not an alter ego and No it is not totally random. It may seem like I want to be like Kareem but that is not the case either. I don't think I want to be like anyone because that will be short sighted and narrow, because what we normally see and desire occludes the flaws and undesirables.

So let's see if I can answer the question in a few sentences. I needed a name to represent anybody who gets to read this blog and gets something out of it. I picked Kareem because I encountered a very pleasant person with that name who I know without a doubt ponders some of the things I blog about and finally, I used it in hopes of allowing you the reader to know that you are not alone in your quest for answers to the many questions of life. So I hope this helps answer the famous question.