by Marcus Engel
Would you wear a shirt that had the name Ralph Lipshitz embroidered across the front? Maybe%85 if it was designed by his more commonly known name, Ralph Lauren. Or, would you cheer on the athletic performance of Eldrick Woods? Maybe%85 if he didn”t smack you upside the head with a three iron for failing to call him Tiger. Now, would you attend a performance of Henry John Deutschendorf? Well, no, you wouldn”t. Not unless you have a Ouija board. But 10 years ago, I”d have been on a Rocky Mountain High if I”d been able to see Henry John in concert under his pseudonym, John Denver.
I was just doing some research for a new book project and needed to find the real names of some celebrities. After a few Google clicks, I found thousands of the birth names of famous people. While I scanned the lists, the whole concept got more and more strange. Why do celebrities so often participate in this odd ritual? Does being famous require a name change?
The more I read, the more it hit me how closely identity is tied to one”s name. It”s really quite predictable in some sense. When you hear the name Hank, it probably doesn”t conjure up an image of the extravagantly wealthy on yachts docked outside the polo club. Likewise, a name like Snoop Doggy Dogg probably does not cause you to immediately think “CEO of a Fortune 500 company.”
At some point in life, most of us have a desire to completely re-write our identity: New name, new family, new place to live – the whole nine yards. If only it were that easy!
Identity is something that everyone struggles with – and that goes double for the young people in my audiences. Frankly, I”m glad to know I”m not the only one who went through the teenage years asking, “Who am I?” We all try on different personalities and see how we like them. It”s all part of personal development and growing up.
In 7th grade, thanks to Ocean Pacific, Hobie and the Beach Boys, I thought I was a surf bum in So Cal (note to reader: I was a farm kid living in the mid-west). Then came the gangsta rap phase (note: Still a farm kid in Missouri), then the neo-hippie phase (Yep, you guessed it!) and I won”t even expound on the mullet years! Through it all, I was doing what so many young people (and adults, too, for that matter) work so hard to do: find an identity.
Several months ago, my friend and fellow speaker, Scott Ginsberg, introduced me to www.MySpace.com. MySpace is a web site where anyone can have a place to post anything they want about themselves: their likes and dislikes, thoughts, dreams, etc. It”s heavily used by teens and, as I flipped through some of the profiles, it put me back into the mindset of who I was half a life ago; that confused kid searching for identity.
When I read the opinions and viewpoints on MySpace, it makes me wish I had an outlet like this when I was growing up. With just a few keystrokes one can completely alter the image they want to portray to others. Does it work? To a certain extent. Writing about how one wants to be seen will start the process of actually being seen that way. Now, provided it”s used forgood and not evil (and many news documentary shows make sure we are well aware of the dangers), I think this can be an incredibly healthy thing – and not just for teens.
Finding who you are ain”t exactly easy. I”m sure you can think of several folks in your life who, even into their twilight years, are still struggling with identity. I sure can. And yet, this is such a normal, human process. It takes time, it takes experimentation and it may even take a complete re-creation, but as with anything, the first step is the desire to change. Once that is established, the rest of the aspects quickly fall into line%85 even if your last name is Lipshitz.
Marcus Engel is a professional speaker/author who inspires audiences to achieve success by making intelligent choices. Blinded by a drunk driver at age 18, Marcus battled through two years of recovery and 300 hours of reconstructive facial surgery to reach his goal of returning to college. After graduating from Missouri State University in 2000, Marcus began sharing his story professionally to audiences nationwide. In 2002, Marcus founded his own publishing company with the release of his autobiography, “After This%85An Inspirational Journey For All the Wrong Reasons.” His messages of empowerment and motivation have been witnessed by hundreds of thousands through his keynotes, his autobiography and his monthly newsletters. Marcus Engel is a speaker, a message, a story you will never forget! Visit http://www.MarcusEngel.com for more information!