Member-only story
FREE TO BE ME
A Grain by Any Other Name
Why I stopped using my pen name
As I’ve entered a new chapter of my life, my priorities have shifted and my values have come into sharper focus. I’m becoming less fearful, though I have a long way to go before anyone would call me fearless.
One side effect of this evolution is I no longer need to use my pen name, grain of infinity. It’s served me well for nearly a decade, first as the domain name for my blog Becoming Extraordinary for five years, and then as my byline on Medium and, for a moment, on a couple of other publishing platforms.
This morning I woke up knowing I’d outgrown it, like that pair of footed jammies that fit me for years until one day they were just too short to stretch. Today, I can step outside the leaky cone of silence to use my own voice and my own name.
I’m still a grain of infinity, as are we all. I’m no more or less important than any other sentient being in this universe but I don’t feel the need to keep repeating myself about the significant insignificance of my existence. And readers should know who they’re reading, whether they like what I have to say or not, whether they agree with me or not.
So call me Barbara.
