We are supposed to wear name tags at church. Visitors or people just checking the place out get the white rectangular stickers to write their own names on. Members of the congregation are provided plastic circular buttons that you can insert any image you want behind your name. If you are not particularly artistic there is someone that can do it for you if you provide some direction on what you might like on your button. There is a display case to leave your button on so you don’t need to worry about remembering to bring it every Sunday. I’ve spent a lot of time over the years looking at the display case; looking at how each person chose to represent themselves. Some are people I haven’t met because they go to the other service but I get an idea of who they are based on their button. An author with a book, an artist with paint supplies, outdoorsy people with outdoorsy scenes, a person that identifies as Quaker with an oatmeal logo….
After several years of being a member, I still wrote my name on a white rectangular sticker each Sunday. If I wore any name tag at all. This probably annoyed people because it is a Unitarian Universalist Church therefore very concerned about the environment and I was wasting resources. The fact is I really appreciated the fact that other people were wearing name tags. I have a horrible memory for names so nametags are very helpful. It makes it easier for people to build relationships taking the pressure out of trying to remember names, and the images can provide conversation starters. There were three reasons that stopped me from making a name tag for myself: (1) I kept losing the materials to make them, (2) sometimes flying incognito under the radar is nice, and (3) I couldn’t commit to an image. I’m not an author, but I write. I’m not an artist, but I’ve made art. I wouldn’t call myself an outdoorsy person but I love to hike and garden. I’m not a Quaker, but I like many of the things they stand for and I briefly attended one of their schools.
Even choosing the color and font was stressing me out. I was so afraid of encapsulating a projection of myself that was inaccurate. Concerned that the relationships I formed at church might be skewed by the name tag I created. I considered making a whole bunch of them and like clothes picking the one that seemed to fit the day. In the end I found a photograph of a lit candle and wrote my name in black pen across it. The image represented the flaming chalice which is a symbol of my denomination. This seemed to solve my conflict since I wasn’t really pigeonholing myself, just simply paying homage to the church. After several years I created a nametag, but a year has gone by and I have yet to remember to wear it.
Enjoying your blog!
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