What's in a name?

Coming up with a creative but sensible name for my professional and personal blog was one of the hardest decisions I made this summer. I know, that might sound a little funny but I will admit this is one area of creativity I have always lacked. For instance, growing up I was that kid in elementary school who loved writing stories; I'd be lying if I didn't admit that publishing a story has always been on my bucket list. Writing assignments in school have always been my favorite, but there is always two parts that I struggle with the most - what do I call it and how do I start it? Again, I know this sounds silly but I've never been good at coming up with creative titles or good beginnings, I'd always start from the second paragraph/chapter, and then have to go back, racking my brain for creativity.

So you can imagine how hard it was to develop this blog because you can't move forward until you create your name and url link. This was especially hard because while I've known that I would need to develop a professional blog for my teaching courses here at Penn State, I had also made the decision that I wanted this to also be a personal blog. I wanted this to be a good representation of me - who I am and what my passions are. This made it especially important to be creative; I wanted this to be an extension of my personality and my passions.

As you can tell by now, the name of my blog is "Enjoying the Interval: Cultivating a CityAggie" and to explain the name, there are essentially two parts: "Enjoying the Interval" and "Cultivating a CityAggie." Assuming you have already read my first post about my life, Who am I?, you already know where the term "CityAggie" comes from - I am born and raised in Philadelphia, PA but have found my passion in the agricultural industry, more specifically in agricultural education. "Cultivate" means "to foster the growth of," and I use this phrase because it is generally associated with agriculture and farming (i.e.: cultivating the land), and I plan to use this blog to show how my personal and professional experiences have and will foster the growth of my involvement in and love of the agricultural industry (also I really love plays on words, just ask my high school English teacher Ms. Steiner).

So the second half of the name is pretty simple, but the first part may not make much sense initially. The phrase "Enjoying the Interval" is in reference to my all-time favorite quote: “There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval” by George Santayana. The first time I read this quote was in The Quotable Equine, a book of quotes with equine photograph backgrounds I received as a gift (I love quotes and horses so it's really no surprise that I would have this book). Since I've first read this quote it's stuck with me, and I interpret the phrase "enjoying the interval" as meaning enjoy life because you never know when it may end. We don't always have a choice in when we leave this life, there is no "cure" for death, but we do have a choice in how we spend our lives. Will we spend them worrying about the end, will we spend them miserable and/or making it miserable for those around us? Or will we live life to the fullest, enjoying life and making the most of it because it's the only one we ever get?

I am going to enjoy each second of my interval, making connections and cultivating myself into a positive agent of change through agricultural education. What will you do with your interval?

“There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval” - George Santayana

Carpe Diem