Moira. There are only a few given names that one can use playing Words With Friends -- Moira is one such name. Moira means fate, destiny. Moirai, The Fates: Clotho, the Spinner, Lachesis, the Allotter and Atropos, the Unturnable. In Greek mythology they were above all other Gods. Clotho holds a distaff in her hand, Lachesis, a spindle, and dear Atropos wields a scissor. From inception Clotho spins your upcoming life, Lachesis weaves the life you are to lead, and Atropos ends your life. Neither sister can interfere with the work of the others. They are the women that decide your destiny. Your fate.
The Fates have been good to me. They gave me friends, and enough to eat, after much time they gave me a house to call my own. I've had endless laughter, and the tears and agony they gave me always had an exit I could find. Those three sisters gave me a rollercoaster of a ride!
When I arrived in Mexico it was the very first time anyone could ever, upon seeing my name written, pronounce my name. Living in America one would thing my name was gjgfqok. No one ever pronounced my name correctly. It was Maura, Myra, Myora, Mayra and then it always quickly came to: What's your nickname? I once got on a flight to Ireland, landing in England for the second sole purpose of meeting another Moira in my life. When I got off the plane there was a huge poster welcoming visitors to The UK with a picture of the Beefeater Moira Cameron! I rented a car and was in Belfast before I learned there was a town called Moira that I'd passed by. During the Covid lockdown I looked up every person named Moira Boyd on Facebook and sent them a 'how-ya doing, stay safe' message. My name is pronounced MOY-RAH. Moirai is pronounced MOY-RYE.
There is a town in New York, in the Adirondacks, that is called Moira but those fools pronounce it Mor- Riah. Enclosed is a picture of that Adirondack town which I once sent to a man in The UK, who thought the numbers seen was my telephone number! To be fair he was from the UK and wouldn't have had a clue about American road identification signs but I thought it was funny that he thought I might have been advertising myself along with my telephone number. Also, to be even fairer, European telephone numbers are about the same length.
But here is what I'd like to talk about and relay to you. The first time I ever saw my name, in print, was during the movie credits for The Red Shoes, which starred, of course, the Scottish ballerina Moira Shearer. To see your name anywhere, or to hear your name spoken is a validation of sorts. When you are presented with a lifetime of hordes of people who can't pronounce your name, and you rarely, if ever, see it anywhere, and you're of African American descent, you know you've been given a name that will help you weed out the Riff-raff. Hearing my name and seeing me, I was once asked if my name was Swahili. When one gets asked that one doesn't feel a huge need to go further.
I knew from an early age what the meaning of my name was and I took it to heart. Yes, it is a common Scottish and Irish name but it comes from Greek mythology which predates baby names chosen by Scots and the Irish. Now some of you are not going to believe what I say next but hear me out: Greek mythology is a part of who you and I are today. It is a part of what makes up our subconscious. It is used in our everyday language. That Achilles tendon that bothers you... Greek Mythology. That narcissistic boyfriend/girlfriend you can't get rid of... Greek mythology. You have a boyfriend/girlfriend who seems a tad too close for comfort to his/her mother/father...Greek mythology. Do you look forward to Valentines Day hoping Cupid will hit you with his arrow...Greek mythology. Have you spent years with your shrink trying to attain happiness picking apart your psyche; your years of internal suffering... Greek mythology. Your doctor and your shrink, behind your back, are using and referring to a language and an understanding that emanates from Greek mythology. Maybe not literally but they are using the myths of what it means to be human.
The Greeks I would say covered pretty much all that we engage in today. And I write that thinking of the time in our history that was free of the concept of sin. Sin and guilt come much later on the historical timeline.
I have always had a running dialogue in my head about my name. Right now and since the day I was born Lachesis has been at my side. Everything I've encountered, good or bad, or more precisely, wonderful or needs to be learned from, has been scrutinized by me. Maybe not in the moment but that time after when I am not so close and heated, I have tried to learn something about human nature. My human nature to be specific. The older one gets the fewer surprises one encounters. I mean this like this: Tattoos are everywhere, no two are the same, no two people who have a tattoo are the same, but everyone who has a tattoo thinks why they have a tattoo is special. Me as the observer of people with tattoos can quickly surmise that people with tattoos, even if big and large or done by a Maori, all fall into the same category. They are people with tattoos who found a need to be visible as people with tattoos and who would rather talk about their tattoos that tell me the story, without a tattoo of why they got a tattoo. I have a tattoo that no-one can see unless I am naked and since I am naked normally when I am alone I get to keep my story to myself. I've heard people say they get tattoos to remember someone or something which always strikes me as odd because how would you forget someone or something that important to you if you were on this side of dementia. If you were on the other side of dementia you wouldn't even remember where the tattoo came from. Young people need to go talk to old sailors and servicemen before they get tattoo so they can get a look-see at what that tattoo will look like in 60 years. So many people have tattoos now that all I see is meandering graffiti. (I know one person who will read this, with tattoos, and quite possibly will be offended, please don't be, I love you tattoos and all).
When you've seen enough of the very same thing over and over again, you are allowed to make assumptions. You're allowed to make snap judgements. Snap meaning quick, not dismissive, but a quick assessment. I don't have a need to do the same thing over and over again hoping for a different response. That's what I mean by fewer surprises. Very few people, myself included aren't really more special than the ordinary. Most of us are just serfs plugging along.
Lachesis is still directing my life but for the first time ever I can see Atropos on the horizon. She has sharp shears so I am hoping my end will be clean, like the lights suddenly going off. I'm hoping she realizes that I can't learn much of anything heavily sedated. I hope it all goes easily. I hope I've left something behind that is memorable or useful to someone. I just hope that I can smile until the last moment giving some sort of sign that I'm happy.
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