Abi:original - If you aren't original, what are you?

Bringing passion to your profession is something that requires daily nurturing. Especially if you may be stuck at a job where you are constantly plagued with the question, ‘should I do this for the pay cheque or do I have more interesting things to do with my life?’ Someone recently sent me a speech by Bill Watterson, creator of the witty comic strip, Calvin and Hobbes. Watterson was addressing the graduating class of 1990, but he could have been talking to any one of us today. You see Watterson drove his now famous comic strip for five years without pay when he was starting out. He accepted heaps of agony for what he believed in but it certainly paid off in the end. He says, “We all have different desires and needs, but if we don't discover what we want from ourselves and what we stand for, we will live passively and unfulfilled.” So I guess I’m at peace with the fact that I have to sometimes write a less than interesting release or two. It doesn’t stop me from writing this blog, ...

I’m still a Fernandes at heart. No passport can prove otherwise. When first posed with the prospect of changing my second name, I freaked out. Imagine being called one name your whole life, and suddenly 27 years later, when prince charming appears, you have to give up that right and take on a new name. It just isn’t something a man would easily do. Thankfully my prince didn’t think it was necessary for me to change my second name. He didn’t need it as validation of my love for him. Unfortunately it didn’t matter what he thought. We were relocating to the Middle East soon after the wedding and everyone was certain no immigration officer was going to speak my language or understand why we didn’t share the same second name if we are husband and wife. All my gender biased arguments seemed insufficient. I had to resign to the fact that life will be easier for my children if I just go ahead and adopt my husband’s second name. No hyphenated names either. A Fernandes-Mathias or a Mathias-Ferna...