1. Brianne
2. Bree-Anne
3. Brieanne
4. Bryanne
5. Breanne
Those are five different ways to spell my name so that people don't confuse me for some stud named Bryan. That definitely disproves the theory that my mother just ran out of spelling options. I don't know what I did to her while she was pregnant with me to make her seek revenge with the spelling of my name, but I'm sorry.
It's not that my name is so terrible or anything, I actually really like it. I am often told that Bryann (pronounced Brianne) is extremely sexy, mysterious and wild... yet it still has a very slight boring ring to it that gets me through my 9 to 5...The more I think about it, she could have at least tried to spell it phonetically.
I know it's kind of weird that I am even thinking about how my name is spelled, especially since I have had this thing for 25 yrs, but for some reason I just can't shake the feeling that if my mother loved me she would have just added an "e". It's so simple it hurts. That little "e" would have made the world of difference on days like today when I am the new girl at a male deprived office.
It wasn't so bad when I was greeted with faces of pure disappointment as each woman realized that the new person wasn't going to be some incredibly handsome man with broad shoulders and a chiseled chest. And it wasn't the absolute worst thing ever when all of my emails were sent to the real Bryan in the office. But it did start to get on my nerves just a tad when I was forced to repeat:"Oh ha yes, I get confused for Bryan all the time. You can just call me Bree" a million times over. I mean come on! None of our cubicles have ceilings so I know these people heard me say it the first time. It's like everyone wanted a personal invitation to call me by the first syllable of my name.
If I had that stupid "e" like I wanted, they would have known I were a girl in advance and called me Bree from the get go. We would have had all gotten a mani/pedi over lunch, and I wouldn't have known that the real Bryan has to go to the "man doctor" on Wednesday (that little email issue works both ways).
I know I shouldn't complain about my name. It is pretty silly when you think about it. There are much bigger issues in the world to worry about, like those identical twins whose names are Orangello and Lemongello (true story). I am no longer going to be upset with my mother's creative juices, or even mad at my dad for making me change "Bree K" from my resume (something about it being unprofessional even though it's my facebook name). I am going to be happy and appreciate all of the blessings I have received this year: my family, my love, and my career. I vow to be patient, open minded and to work on my occasional tendency to misplace frustration (although I still think that Bree. K would have worked fine)... and I invite you to follow me on my journey as I try to figure out where it is exactly I am going. Oh and yes, you can call me Bree.
