This Might Take a While...

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and it's got me in a thoughtful mood.  Fortunately I was just tagged to reveal another 7 random  things about myself (by Banquet), so I have a good excuse to delve in and tell you more about me... the person behind the blog.

1)  My name.
I get a lot of inquiries about this, so here's the story (hope you're cozy, it's quite lengthy).  I was born in the 70's... and my mom (being the carefree spirit that she was at the time) decided to name me Esrael (sounds like Israel with and "E").  This was fine until around age 4-6 (when by unfortunate coincidence the Smurfs {remember the Smurfs} happened to be in their height of popularity).  Well, kids are mean... mean, mean, mean... and some brilliant little stinker noticed the similarity between Esrael and Asrael (the evil cat on the Smurfs) and from then on I was marked.  Because the teasing was so out of hand I begged my mom to let me change my name (and again being the free spirit that she was), she said "yes."  Of course I had to up my status among my peers, so I picked the most popular name of that time: "Heather!"  I had it legally changed and everything. 
Fast-forward to the early 2000's when I was attending school for fashion design.  I had since come to dislike my name (again, but for different reasons), and started going by my birth name.  Only this time I made the "s" a "z" and shortened it to "Ez."  There you have it.  My friends call me Ez and my family calls me both Heather and Ez.  You can take your pick.  Phew... that was long.  Did you make it all the way through?!

2)  Lessons I've learned through blogging:
     a.  Perseverance.  If you think you can't do it, you just have to try.  I didn't even know what a blog was when I started it (I was lured in by the free trial and now here I am almost 3 years later).
     b.  Sanity.  Blogging has helped keep me sane.  It sounds dramatic, but it's true.  When I began Creature Comforts, I was in a really dark time of my life (depression, recent divorce, etc.) and through the act of searching for things of beauty I found my voice and ability to actually see true beauty again.
     c.  Humility.  I have found myself at times (through my own insecurities... we all have those right), envying or begrudging another blogger for their brilliance... ie. they have more readers, a fancier blog, more posts, better ideas, etc... the list goes on and on.  But then I've had to take a step back and just let it go.  Setting my mind at peace about this has given me the opportunity to accept our differences and find the commonality that lies between us all.  I can not even tell you how many truly beautiful (inside and out) people I have met through blogging.  I feel blessed every day by the community that blogging has given me!
d.  Gratitude.  Every day when I wake up and turn on my computer for another day of blogging I feel so lucky.  So very lucky to have so many incredible readers.  People like YOU who support and encourage my creative vision... and give me the chance to share it with the world.  I think you are all amazing... and I love you all!!!

Now on the more "random" side of things:

3)  I have a scar on my right cheek in the shape of a bird's foot.  I have no idea when it got there or how, but I like to think that the birds claimed me as theirs at birth... lol  Maybe that's where I got my unwavering obsession with birds from.

4)  I don't like pillow fights... they scare the crap out of me.  Really!

5)  I relate completely to the character "Rickie" in American Beauty... I am the female version of him (minus the weed dealing of course).

6)  I like tragic, fragile, and awkward things.  Hummingbirds, the last fall leaf fluttering on a branch, a rose bloom past its prime... etc.

7)  I'm a little bit psychic.  Okay that sounds weird... but I definitely have a keen perceptiveness that can freak me out at times.  For example, I almost always know the phone is going to ring before it does (I'll even walk to go get it ahead of time)... I have great cop intuition (I always check my speed and then low and behold... a police car will come into view)... etc.  Handy but kind of odd.

Now I am supposed to tag 7 other people.  If you feel like playing please join right in.  Follow and then copy and paste these rules in your post:

RULES:
Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
Share 7 random and/or weird things about yourself.
Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

My 7 tagees are:
-A Field Journal
-Housemartin
-Something's Hiding in Here
-Posie Gets Cozy
-Perfect Bound
-Lisa Congdon
-Art and Ghosts

Comments

[Thea]

I found you through a link on anything indie.

It was fun to discover your blog with this post at the top. I like the story about your name. Ez is great. I used to watch the smurfs and I can't imagine how hard it must have been being teased about your name. Your mom is awsome for understanding.

I gre up in woodstock ny and my mother legally changed her name from Carol to Shazu. Long story but I love z's in names:)

[erin lang norris/yellow canoe]

What a cool story behind your name!!!

[M&Co]

I love these things, so fun to get to know the person behind the blog!

[Melissa Brown]

Dear, lovely Ez..It is so nice to learn more about the talented lady behind this blog. It just reaffirms how many fabulous and lovely people are behind blogworld and etsy. Thank you for sharing with us, for your honesty and your great eye for beauty.xoMelissa

[lush]

so wonderful to learn more about you ez...further reaffirming some of the things we have in common, like, for instance, our love for hummingbirds. this was back when I was in high school…but i recall reading in a fancy interiors magazine about how this extremely famous and wealthy individual considered a salad of hummingbirds' tongues a delicacy, which he enjoyed from time to time. i was so appalled that i wrote to the editor of the magazine to express my feelings. that very same evening I saw a tiny hummingbird perched on a shrub outside my door. never before had I seen one up close and in real life…only in books, for they were and probably still are quite rare in the area I was living at the time. I may be superstitious and a little bit silly, but I remember feeling like this little bird had known what I did that day and flew over to see me and to say ‘thank you.’

[Caroline]

I never heard the story about why you changed your name! But I'm wondering if many of your readers might think it's "ezz" (short for Ezrael) rather than "eezee".

So fun to learn random facts about you!

[Alicia P.]

Thanks for tagging me Ez! I loved reading your random things, and apologize in advance for mine :-)

[Life [Comma] Etc]

So nice to meet you! I love your blog design and I bet I'm about to love your content, too!

[Cheryl]

Hi Ez! I found you through the "Things I'm Afraid to Tell You" challenge, and I'm so glad I did! I am a one month old baby blog, and i LOVE it. But I have to admit, I started feeling uncertain today about my "baby's" future because I'm not sure if I have what it takes. Like you, I didn't know a thing about blogging before I started my site, except for looking at a couple of fashion blog posts. This post (or your random things) especially resonated with me because that's exactly how I'm feeling, but after reading that you had similar feelings, it just makes me want to keep going because I feel like this blogging is good for me. I am finding that I have to be brave to put myself out there and I am able to express myself creatively. I did post a "Random Things List", http://www.shoeaxis.com/2012/05/short-sweet-facebook-random-things.html, so if you want, I would be honored if you would read it and possibly give me any tips. Thank you so much for the inspiration! Cheryl

[Natalia Garcia]

I fell in love with the story behind your name :). Ez you are an inspiration to me and your blog reflects on the things I love. I want to thank you because its been hard to find a blog that fits my interests.I am so thankful that I have found your blog.