Giving up Naming
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It is the season of gift exchanges. As Fabric, we are wondering about the bigger, deeper exchanges we might make in order to make more room for what matters most to us. But names? We use them every day. We are named. We name things. We have to do it and we gain a great deal, no doubt. In fact, naming is one of the most empowering things we can do at times! I bet you can think of examples.
But there are things we give up with names too. Complexity, immediacy, fresh eyes, dynamism, wonder…
What if, instead of giving up the possibility of people and things for the convenience we like, what if we gave up Naming?
I got this idea a long time ago when I read a short story named [get the irony?] She Unnames Them, by fantasy and science fiction writer Ursula K. Le Guin. It is a midrash of sorts that riffs on the story in the book of Genesis where, Adam, the only person yet created, considered all the creatures in the world and gave them names. And then God creates Eve. And after a time Eve has this sense that the names might not be quite right and aren’t what all the critters call themselves anyway, so she “unnames” them. Including herself.
Check it out! Here is the link to the original short story in the New Yorker.
She Unnames Them
January 13, 1985
Here is a link to the full message from Sunday, December 1. Including an original song by Christ Tripolino!
