Rebecca is the strong yet elegant name written across the front cover of my book. Rebecca. It is a name that seems to ring on for eternity once it escapes the lips, and in this book it does. The name rings through each and every page, yet it is just a name, an idea. Rebecca is dead. The name has no character to attach itself to, no physical presence to identify. Rebecca is dead, but the name, the idea of her is not. In fact this idea known as Rebecca is still alive and well and very powerful. Rebecca takes hold of a nameless girl contorting her into whatever it wants, and she is defined by Rebecca. The truth is that we have all been nameless at one point in our lives, and we all have a Rebecca, a name, a label desperately trying to pin itself on us. The question is; can we truly name ourselves?
From the very beginning we are all puzzles put together based on where we grew up, who our parents were, or what kinds of people we surrounded ourselves with. We have all experienced peer pressure and what it is like to use our free will, to make choices to either conform or follow a different path. Yes, we have all been influenced by different people whether it is for better or worst; it’s what humans do. However, there is a force beyond physical interactions, beyond relationships and surroundings that still affects each and every one of us on a daily basis. Some call it a conscience; some call it an instinct. I call it Rebecca, a name, an idea, a memory, something that lurks in the shadows of our minds that tries to tell us who we are or who we are not. Rebecca sometimes tells us that we are not good enough. Rebecca tells us our limits. Rebecca tells us when we should stop trying or when something is impossible. Oh, Rebecca will try and try to hold us down so that it can sink its claws into us and make us its own, and sometimes, Rebecca wins. Sometimes it embeds itself so deep into us that we call ourselves Rebecca. But sometimes, we win. There are those of us who have defied Rebecca and allowed ourselves to be good enough, to have no limits, to seek out the impossible and conquer it; these are the people who have named themselves.
There is a Rebecca, a name, an idea, a label in all of our lives trying desperately to pin itself on us. The question may be if we can truly name ourselves, if we have the power to truly define who we are, and while that is something that we all have to discover for ourselves, there is one fact that will forever remain. Rebecca is dead.
