How did you come up with your username?

[Unota]

Hello~

 

There's something that I've been thinking about a bit, lately. For a very long time, I have always been so indecisive to the extent that I would make my own decisions with a pocket-full of dice I carried around with me everywhere I went. I later switched to a 'spirit coin' that fit more smoothly into my pocket. This was how I managed to get things done, because I was so forgetful that I could not remember what needed to be done, and I was unable to prioritize what needed to be done the most.

 

I've decided that I don't like to do this anymore! I've become a bit more capable of making my own decisions, and I've been able to prioritize a bit better. I do not need to let random chance decide for me. I want to make my own decisions. There is one thing I've been struggling with though, as I've been interacting with people a bit more, especially under the anonymity of the internet. It is that I'm not entirely sure how to introduce myself.

 

Even my username here was randomly generated with a conlang program called 'polyglot' and means absolutely nothing to me or anyone else. It feels strange to be addressed by various names in other places that don't suit me as I juggle with one after another. I go through one name to the next, none ever really sticking, because they do not reflect the kind of person that I am. But, I don't know what kind of person that I am! I don't know how I come across to others. I also do not know what things are most important in my life, to attach it to myself as a label of any sort.

 

This probably seems like an insignificant problem, ahaha... But it's a little important to me. It makes me feel a bit frustrated. So...Anyway, what does your username mean to you? How did you decide on it? Maybe hearing from you can help me figure out how to label myself in the future.

[Cobie]

.

Edited December 23, 2023 by Cobie

[liminal_luke]

2 hours ago, Unota said:

 

This probably seems like an insignificant problem, ahaha... But it's a little important to me. It makes me feel a bit frustrated. So...Anyway, what does your username mean to you? How did you decide on it? Maybe hearing from you can help me figure out how to label myself in the future.

 

It doesn´t sound like an "insignificant problem" at all!  Of course you want to have a strong sense of who you are and what you stand for.  

 

I like the name Luke.  It´s a quick one´-syllable name and to me it feels no-nonsense and masculine, two qualities that I like.  The word liminal speaks to my understanding of spirituality, the power of in-between places and ambiguity.  So that´s sort of the meaning of my name.

 

Your user name may have been computer generated but I´m sure the subheading was not.  A lazy gardener -- I love that!  It´s a great combination of words that adds a lot of characterization, really lets me know who you are.  You´re lazy and you´re also a gardener, both at the same time.  To me, it´s admirably self-deprecating the way you admit to laziness.  You´re not one of those Bums who is trying to pass yourself off as perfect and I appreciate that.  But you also have the confidence to tell us about one of your productive activities -- gardening.  What does lazy gardening look like?  I´m not sure but I´m curious.  

 

To me, the post above also reveals some qualities you have that could be the basis for a name.  You are someone who wants to know yourself better.  I get the feeling that in the past you may have kept to yourself more but now you are in the process of "interacting more" and being a more social person.  You are thoughtful about how you come across to other people and want to pick a name that truly reflects who you are.  These are my impressions anyway.  I think all of these things suggest that you are a very particular person with particular strengths and areas you´re working on.  Any of these qualities could inspire an interesting name.  

 

Just my two cents,

LL

Edited November 29, 2023 by liminal_luke

[Taomeow]

@Unota  Your username sounded kind of Japanese to me, so I googled...  well, I was close.  There's a Japanese name Unita, which has a whole wealth of meanings apparently:

宇仁田- Unita -

 

宇 means "space, universe."

• Roof, House - A roof or house, representing a home and shelter.

• Universe - The universe, representing the world and all that is in it.

• Spirit, Intelligence - Spirit or intelligence, representing a person's capacity for thought and understanding.

仁 means "humanity, benevolence, kindness."

• Compassion - Showing kindness and sympathy towards others.

• Affection - Showing fondness and love towards others.

• Humanity - Showing kindness and understanding towards others.

• Person - An individual human being.

• Fruit - The seed of a fruit.

田 means "rice field, rice paddy."

• Field - A general term for cultivated land.

• Tillage - To cultivate the land.

• Place of Production - A metaphor for a place that produces something.

• Countryside - A rural area.

• Hunting - To hunt or go hunting.

As for me, I am a taoist and I like to meow.  I meow in many situations where normally people would go "wow" or "ouch" or "ah" -- in other words, meow is my placeholder for any emotion that warrants a brief in-the-moment expression.

 

I was Taomeow online before TDB existed, and never changed that username, although over the years it's grown a bit too cute for my current age and my anti-cute cultural preferences.  But I don't give a flying through a rolling.    

Edited November 29, 2023 by Taomeow

[Sanity Check]

Sanity check is a programming term for sanitizing input within boundaries to avoid undefined behavior which might produce unwanted bugs or security vulnerabilities.

 

I have an unusual personality quirk for splitting hairs in an effort to achieve context perfect accuracy and empathize with the term.

 

I also have an unusual penchant for saying things others say sound crazy. (Which sometimes end up being accurate.) Making it great to have a "sanity check" disclaimer above each post I write.

Edited November 30, 2023 by Sanity Check

[Unota]

3 hours ago, Cobie said:

I took a concept that’s important to me, ‘co-be’ (my word for people being equal). Then found a real name that sounded like it. 
 

 

(That's really cute!!)

 

2 hours ago, liminal_luke said:

 

It doesn´t sound like an "insignificant problem" at all!  Of course you want to have a strong sense of who you are and what you stand for.  

 

I like the name Luke.  It´s a quick one´-syllable name and to me it feels no-nonsense and masculine, two qualities that I like.  The word liminal speaks to my understanding of spirituality, the power of in-between places and ambiguity.  So that´s sort of the meaning of my name.

 

Your user name may have been computer generated but I´m sure the subheading was not.  A lazy gardener -- I love that!  It´s a great combination of words that adds a lot of characterization, really lets me know who you are.  You´re lazy and you´re also a gardener, both at the same time.  To me, it´s admirably self-deprecating the way you admit to laziness.  You´re not one of those Bums who is trying to pass yourself off as perfect and I appreciate that.  But you also have the confidence to tell us about one of your productive activities -- gardening.  What does lazy gardening look like?  I´m not sure but I´m curious.  

 

To me, the post above also reveals some qualities you have that could be the basis for a name.  You are someone who wants to know yourself better.  I get the feeling that in the past you may have kept to yourself more but now you are in the process of "interacting more" and being a more social person.  You are thoughtful about how you come across to other people and want to pick a name that truly reflects who you are.  These are my impressions anyway.  I think all of these things suggest that you are a very particular person with particular strengths and areas you´re working on.  Any of these qualities could inspire an interesting name.  

 

Just my two cents,

LL

 

Woah...I'm amazed you picked up that much just from what I've said. I don't know what to say.

 

I'd almost forgotten that I'd set my subheading to that. I think that I set it to that some time after joining here, because it was the first defining thing about myself that I could think of.

 

I am so lazy, that I have spent years studying tips, tricks, permaculture, and sustainability, just so that the earth would do all of the work while I sit back and put in as little effort as possible.

 

I learned companion planting and rotating so that I don't have to spray expensive pesticides or fungicides, and I still don't have to worry about pests and disease. I learn about no-till gardening so I don't have to till as much soil. I learn about plant reproduction and collecting seeds so I don't have to go out and buy as many seeds. I learn about native pollinators and grow flowers from them so I get more produce, because they will pollinate more of my plants. I compost food and feed it to my plants so that I get bigger produce, with more nutrients.

 

Maybe people might assume that I'm a pompous weirdo that refuses to use pesticides because it will save the planet or for moral reasons. Of course I do like the idea of that too, my morals also align with preserving nature, but...It's an afterthought. The real, straightforward reason that I do this, is A: to save money! and B: because I'm lazy. I spend very little money on it. It's free food.

 

This is why I was curious about Daoism when I first started to read about it, stumbling upon a few books about it. It felt really familiar. Not necessarily doing nothing at all, but not overworking yourself either. Trying to understand the nature of things, so that you can utilize it and go with the flow of how things already function. I realized that this can apply to more than just gardening, and I can have influence over so much more than just food and plants. (At the moment, I am trying to overcome my loneliness from living a sheltered lifestyle by making friends.) But, that is why I put 'lazy gardener.'

 

As I have started to speak more with people, as I tell them my name, I often use my real name, because I have no consistent online name. But I've noticed that my own name has started to taste a little sour in my mouth. It was a name given to me by someone who destroyed my self-worth. It's not that I don't like my name, or still hold a lot of resentment anymore. But it's not something I want to be called by strangers I don't yet know very well on the internet. I don't like hearing it. (You can really tell how infrequently I speak with people, if I've only just now noticed how I feel about this.) But I also don't like telling them just whatever, either. I want something I can use that is mine, even if it's like a silly username. And then when I am comfortable, I can tell them my name in real life.

 

Thank you for this. There is one thing that I did know to define myself, and being reminded of and prompted to talk about it gave me a chance to consider it a bit more. Thank you also for taking my post seriously, because it does feel a bit personal to me at the moment.

 

I think what Taomeow said is also helpful, because even if I didn't come up with it, meaning can be applied that feels a little more personal, so that I can make it my own. (Aside from the slight change to make in spelling.)

 

 

10 minutes ago, Taomeow said:

@Unota  Your username sounded kind of Japanese to me, so I googled...  well, I was close.  There's a Japanese name Unita, which has a whole wealth of meanings apparently:

宇仁田- Unita -

 

宇 means "space, universe."

• Roof, House - A roof or house, representing a home and shelter.

• Universe - The universe, representing the world and all that is in it.

• Spirit, Intelligence - Spirit or intelligence, representing a person's capacity for thought and understanding.

仁 means "humanity, benevolence, kindness."

• Compassion - Showing kindness and sympathy towards others.

• Affection - Showing fondness and love towards others.

• Humanity - Showing kindness and understanding towards others.

• Person - An individual human being.

• Fruit - The seed of a fruit.

田 means "rice field, rice paddy."

• Field - A general term for cultivated land.

• Tillage - To cultivate the land.

• Place of Production - A metaphor for a place that produces something.

• Countryside - A rural area.

• Hunting - To hunt or go hunting.

As for me, I am a taoist and I like to meow.  I meow in many situations where normally people would go "wow" or "ouch" or "ah" -- in other words, meow is my placeholder for any emotion that warrants a brief in-the-moment expression.

 

I was Taomeow online before TDB existed, and never changed that username, although over the years it's grown a bit too cute for my current age and my anti-cute cultural preferences.  But I don't give a flying through a rolling.    

 

[liminal_luke]

Thanks for telling me a little more about "lazy gardening."  It sounds a whole lot more involved and learned than I first imagined.  Maybe lazy gardening is also smart gardening?  To most people, lazy has a negative connotation but I think a person has to be really smart to figure out how to be lazy effectively.  

[Unota]

54 minutes ago, liminal_luke said:

Thanks for telling me a little more about "lazy gardening."  It sounds a whole lot more involved and learned than I first imagined.  Maybe lazy gardening is also smart gardening?  To most people, lazy has a negative connotation but I think a person has to be really smart to figure out how to be lazy effectively.  

Lazy is still lazy. Even though the outcome was good this time, probably because I have a better understanding of gardening than other areas of my life, my motive was irresponsible and betrays a lack of priorities and a tendency to go to great lengths so that I do and give as little as possible. I doubt that gardening is the only area that I do things like this, but I'm unaware of it. Probably why I tend to be a  bit of a shut-in. People are unpredictable, cruel, and mean. It was just so much easier to stay at home, too much effort to reach out to people. Look where that got me.

[Sanity Check]

2 hours ago, Unota said:

 

I am so lazy, that I have spent years studying tips, tricks, permaculture, and sustainability, just so that the earth would do all of the work while I sit back and put in as little effort as possible.

 

 

 

 

I'm not certain laziness is a legitimate thing that exists.

 

If a reed that bends in the wind of a hurricane can survive, while an oak that is rigid will break.

 

Perhaps laziness can exhibit greater productivity than constant activity in the way that a runner who paces themselves may appear lazy. Yet will inevitably win a marathon versus a runner who tries to sprint the entire 26 mile distance.

 

Greater activity can be more prone towards resembling a headless chicken running in circles.

 

Laziness might be a net positive in that it allows for a reset & breaks the circular cycle.

[thelerner]

Sometimes I think being lazy and letting things go by is about a third of Taoism.                                      .  48

 

Thelerner is a play on my name.  Way back, before the internet age, before the earth was covered by billions of AOL CD's I logged onto AOL with a 300 baud modem and tried to join it.  It took 4 tries before I found a name it would accept thelerner.    

 

Edited November 30, 2023 by thelerner

[kakapo]

9 hours ago, Unota said:

Hello~

 

There's something that I've been thinking about a bit, lately. For a very long time, I have always been so indecisive to the extent that I would make my own decisions with a pocket-full of dice I carried around with me everywhere I went. I later switched to a 'spirit coin' that fit more smoothly into my pocket. This was how I managed to get things done, because I was so forgetful that I could not remember what needed to be done, and I was unable to prioritize what needed to be done the most.

 

I've decided that I don't like to do this anymore! I've become a bit more capable of making my own decisions, and I've been able to prioritize a bit better. I do not need to let random chance decide for me. I want to make my own decisions. There is one thing I've been struggling with though, as I've been interacting with people a bit more, especially under the anonymity of the internet. It is that I'm not entirely sure how to introduce myself.

 

Even my username here was randomly generated with a conlang program called 'polyglot' and means absolutely nothing to me or anyone else. It feels strange to be addressed by various names in other places that don't suit me as I juggle with one after another. I go through one name to the next, none ever really sticking, because they do not reflect the kind of person that I am. But, I don't know what kind of person that I am! I don't know how I come across to others. I also do not know what things are most important in my life, to attach it to myself as a label of any sort.

 

This probably seems like an insignificant problem, ahaha... But it's a little important to me. It makes me feel a bit frustrated. So...Anyway, what does your username mean to you? How did you decide on it? Maybe hearing from you can help me figure out how to label myself in the future.

 

This video:

 

 

[wandelaar]

A name is not that important, because it will automatically get a meaning for your readers as a result of what you post.

 

Deciding unavoidable dilemma's in which there is no sensible choice to make by rolling dice isn't a bad way to do it. Sometimes you will just have to do something with no way to know what is right. But those cases are very rare.

[tao.te.kat]

The name of my cat...

 

Zen masters used to get their name from the place they were teaching... for example Lin-Ji took his name from Lin-ji temple in Hebei where he taught.

[Master Logray]

This forum happens to allow space in the user name.  And I happened to use 2 words with a space in between in the username.  It is uncommon.  At first it was okay.  After some time, I could not log in due to forgetting the space, and it continues for many years until I somehow corrected it.

 

Actually it is very Taoist.  Taoists don't use the word emptiness "空" but use "虛".   Many Taoists have "虛" in their Taoist names.  This word, unlike emptiness which primarily means empty/nothingness, has a significant meaning of hollowness.   The hollowness is an important concept in Taoist philosophy and alchemy.   It is where the most basic cosmic energy comes from.  The space inside the username is exactly hollowness, the Tao.

 

 

[CityHermit!]

Mine is a pun of City Hunter and a passage in the Wu Chen P'ien.

[whocoulditbe?]

how indeed

[NaturaNaturans]

I started with basic mat, based on my first name. Then i read something about Spinoza that resonated; natura naturans - nature natures. Cant argue with that.

 

For some reason I highly resonated strongly with sol invictus, fire symbolism and Isha upanishad:

16. O Sun, sole traveller of the Heavens, controller of all, Surya, son of Prajapatiremove thy rays and gather up thy burning light. I behold thy glorious form; 1 am he, the Purusha within thee.

So thats where the username and profile pic comes from, and my background pic is the iconic painting «the creation of Adam.» I think the «so close, but allways slightly Out of reach» is so true and beautifull.

 

For my signature I went to the king of the Aesir, the all-father, and what he reported after having been iniated (not saying i am that):

Spoiler

I know that I hung on a windy tree
nine long nights,
wounded with a spear, dedicated to Odin,
myself to myself,
on that tree of which no man knows from where its roots run.

No bread did they give me nor a drink from a horn,
downwards I peered;
I took up the runes,
screaming I took them,
then I fell back from there.

 

[blue eyed snake]

i must admit i not remember too clearly, 

 

but did start out with a different avatar.

something like this.

 

 

Spoiler

 

Edited January 25 by blue eyed snake

[idiot_stimpy]

Antidote to the danger of being attached/proud of an internet persona. 

[ChiDragon]

Chi(氣) is a vital source of energy that I breathe from the air.

Dragon(龍) is the highest symbol for supremacy.

 

I practice chi kung and become powerful like a dragon with lots of chi in the body. Hence, I am a ChiDragon.

 

氣龍

[Cobie]

4 hours ago, ChiDragon said:

… supremacy …

You go, dragon! Don’t hide your light under a bushel. 

 

Edited February 4 by Cobie

[Nungali]

On 11/30/2023 at 2:49 PM, Sanity Check said:

 

 

 

I'm not certain laziness is a legitimate thing that exists.

 

If a reed that bends in the wind of a hurricane can survive, while an oak that is rigid will break.

 

Perhaps laziness can exhibit greater productivity than constant activity in the way that a runner who paces themselves may appear lazy. Yet will inevitably win a marathon versus a runner who tries to sprint the entire 26 mile distance.

 

Greater activity can be more prone towards resembling a headless chicken running in circles.

 

Laziness might be a net positive in that it allows for a reset & breaks the circular cycle.

 

I am so lazy that I am active in trying to get things right and efficient so I can be even more lazy in the future .

 

Some times it backfires though ... to lazy to mow the lawn , so i dont . Then next week its twice as long and twice as hard .  Get lazier and dont do it at all  ?

 

Oh Gawd !  So much effort dragging my legs though the thigh high grass , lloking out for snakes, having to remove ticks ... sigh .

 

and THIS is my lame excuse for being a taoist !

 

Oh yeah ..... my name was based on a lizard

 

My profile pic used to be a simple sketch of a lizard , sometimes I think of changing back to something similar

 

 

 

 

[Nungali]

On 11/30/2023 at 2:52 PM, thelerner said:

Sometimes I think being lazy and letting things go by is about a third of Taoism.   

 

 

Oh good .... I am 1/6th of a Taoist then .          

 

 

.

Edited February 5 by Nungali

[Unota]

2 hours ago, Nungali said:

 

 

Oh good .... I am 1/6th of a Taoist then .          

 

 

.

What are the other sixths of you?