My phone’s name is Adrien. I call my Xbox Siggy. My computer, Lance. My car, Keith. The plush speaker at work I call Rover.
So I’m one of those people who name things. It seems like there are two solid camps here: people who name and label staplers (like my former coworkers in my hometown library) and the people who give me WTF faces when I ask what they are going to name their new iPad.
It’s Gretchen Rubin who has a happiness hack suggesting you add a little whimsy into your life. I find personifying my stuff extra whimsical. I walk to the car in the morning and say “Hi Keith.” When my computer is slow to wake up, “how you doing there, Lance?” It’s fun and reminds me of other things I love (both those names are from one of my favorite shows, Voltron).
I realized recently that I get this from my dad. He names our cars (currently The Egg and Ace) and named the hill we lived on in my hometown: Mt Uff Da. There were custom printed signs and hats to match. I didn’t realize until my second year of printing custom T-shirt for my family vacation that I was just like my dad in this way. I love that.
My mom had a hip replacement in the fall and I encouraged her to name the implant. After a few days, she came up with Lucy. I think …I don’t think she uses it very often, but I reason that if you humanize something you can take care of it better. I thought it might help her heal faster. (That’s not really how it works, but to me, it’s a comfort).
I’ve had generations of named stuff, mostly phones and laptops that I can brand on the theme with the name. They’ve been tributes to Harry Potter, Spider-Man, How to Train Your Dragon, Miraculous Ladybug, and Voltron (my Merlin fandom love is covered by my two cats, Merlin and Arthur).
If you don’t name your things, give it a try. If you’re firmly in the WTF camp, your loss, we have whimsy. And sometimes cookies.
With Love,
Natalie