What’s in a Name?

When I first started my blog I wanted to come up with a unique name that had some sort of deeper meaning. In doing some digging (actually, a lot of digging) I found the word eudaimonia, which is “a Greek word which refers to a state of having a good indwelling spirit or being in a contented state of being healthy, happy and prosperous.”

Perfect right? Because at that time, this was exactly how I was feeling and it was the perfect descriptor for the life that I was already creating for myself.

But, the name has proven to be too complicated. There have been a few times that I tried to text my blog site to someone and I didn’t even spell it right! (it’s that tricky “i” in the middle). Not only that but it’s difficult to pronounce, and at a dinner party when someone asks me “what’s the name of your blog?” I get all tripped up and have to say I’ll send it to them later.

So I went back to the drawing board (my brainstorming notebook) and tried to come up with a new name. I researched. I thesaurused. I put out a call for help to my Facebook friends. I had a happy hour brainstorming session with one of my favorite wordsmiths. I slept on it and pondered some more to the point that I nearly overwhelmed myself. Like my stomach was literally in knots over the pressure of trying to come up with the perfect name!

I came up with Bourbon & Sprinkles because I wanted to use two words that are completely different, yet together they form a catchy concept. It was an early frontrunner and I put it on the back burner and let it simmer for awhile as I still tried to come up with something that might be better. But I never did land on anything that I liked as much. I wanted a name that is still slightly vague (I mean, it’s not like I can create an entire blog about just bourbon and sprinkles), yet also fun and intriguing. I like the juxtaposition of these two words, especially if they are not taken literally. Bourbon is smooth, kind of masculine, dark, serious, meant to be savored. While sprinkles are fun, playful, energetic, sweet, colorful. Using this dichotomy as the name allows a lot of flexibility in the content and tone of my blog, and that’s exactly what I want.