What does your name say about you?

Today is the day to shine… to do the proverbial cannonball off the lighthouse.

Today I will finally live up to my name.

Brook

 

What is a brook? What does it mean to brook? Well for the answer to that let us turn to good ol’ Merriam Webster.

brook n. A small, natural stream, smaller than a river or creek, a rivulet.

Synonym ~ stream.

brook v.  To put up with; endure; tolerate: usually with the negative.

Synonym~ endure.

 

To Endure is to suffer without yielding, to bear pain, grief or injury, to withstand, to hold out, to last and continue to be.

 

A Stream is a current or flow of water, continuously flowing, moving or passing by; it has a continuous course or advance; drift; current. It has a source or a ray.

A brook is fed by a spring. It has a shallow rock lined bed. It is easy to cross or to dam up. It provides a constant source of water to the environment around it, bringing refreshment and nourishment. It is close to its source.

 

How does all of this relate to me? Well grab a patch of grass and lay down along my refreshing waters or a big comfy moss covered stone and gaze upon the pools of reflection as I tell you a story, my story, the story of my name.

 

Imagine if you will a spring bubbling up from the ground. Because of this source of water the surrounding hills and valleys are green and teaming with lush vegetation.  There are many flowers near by. Butterflies float in the breeze flitting from flower to flower, vine to vine searching for the perfect spot to lay their eggs.

 Large shade trees spread their branches out like they are opening their arms to the sky and soaking in the rays of the sun. Their roots hungrily soak up the waters that my source, the spring, offers them. Birds and chipmunks chirp and sing in the branches of the many trees that line the banks. 

 

There is much to observe if you sit and look around.

For the weary traveler this is the perfect place to sit and rest, to listen to the calming sounds of the water rippling over the exposed stones in my shallow waters.

 

Crystal clear waters show my vulnerabilities, my transparency. I don’t get angry when people throw rocks at me, because it just adds to the stones that already line the basin of my existence. It may sting the surface for a moment, but it will build me up and make me stronger. Some day those stones will be useful to someone else.

 

I endure every twist and turn in the landscape and even the occasional waterfall. These things that look so scary when I am on the precipice of falling over are so beautiful to behold from a distance. Through droughts my spring keeps me going. I never lose hope. I know my hope, my spring, will not; can not ever run dry. In times of flood and abundance my waters bubble over onto the shoreline. The waters become muddied and confused by the mix of the world in the source of the spring. But, when things calm down again, my focus is right back where it needs to be once again.

 

I am a good listener, and I’ll keep things to myself. I have deep pools of reflection and will help you find the answers that you need. I have a wealth of knowledge from all the travelers that have crossed my path before. Some of this knowledge is silly and nonsensical and some of it is quite random, but on the rare occasion you may get the bits that are life changing. I like to think of each stone as a random fact in my arsenal of life.  Some stones are big and some are tiny little pebbles. There are some that are well worn and used quite frequently and yet others that are rarely used and still have the jagged edges. Yet each one of these stones has a purpose.

There is so much more to a name, more than just the babbling Brook that I have tried my entire life not to be. I don’t want to be that person primarily because I will get nervous and start stuttering. If you know me, and know me well, you know my humorous side. You know that I literally visualize everything people say. That I laugh often and talk a lot! I can be a roaring waterfall that endures that twists and turns of this life because I have a Spring of Life that gives me the strength.

 

What does your name say about you?