Part of what goes into not launching a project is not knowing what to name it. Does the title have to reflect the inner world of the writer? Will the future prove the title to have been a clairvoyant portal into the collective psyche of the generation? Or should it just be catchy?

RUNNING ON ASHES: When I told my mother what the title of the blog was, she chuckled knowingly. I couldn’t understand why. “You know.” I didn’t. She assumed it had to do with smoking cannabis. She was wrong, but I couldn’t fault her for her logical deduction. Why not name a personal piece after what has so largely gone into both preventing and creating it?

No, the title is about getting one’s shit together at the last minute…or slightly after the last minute. It’s about the proverbial Phoenix rising from the ashes and scrambling to make good and bring to being a fulfillment of destiny, even after everything has burned to the ground. It’s about rebirth. Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Mother.

I thought about naming it something related to phoenices (?). Why? Because, astrologically, I’m a Scorpio sun sign. Scorpios (Scorpioes?) have different symbolic iterations—the scorpion, the snake, the eagle and the phoenix. Some also connect Scorpios to the ancient scarab of Egypt, but I don’t want to get too greedy here.

Anyway, the idea is that the first iteration is the lowest, the basest. It’s the survivalist bottom feeder version. Whether that is the actual scorpion or the snake iteration is of much debate in the world of time-wasting distractions (astrology). The point is that this is the one you want to graduate from. Then, if you face your music and rise to your challenges, you become an eagle. That’s a pretty good iteration to occupy because eagles are powerful and have good eyesight. But they’re still hawkish (no pun intended) and kind of mean and selfish. So, ideally, you want to shoot for the apex of the scorpionic totem—the Phoenix.

Oops. I just went online to flesh out my knowledge of what beings represent or are associated with Scorpios. Big mistake. I found a site that claims there are eight animal symbols for Scorpios. I’m ignoring it for my own sanity. But just in case you’re interested:

Scorpion—Okay, I get it.

Snake —Yeah, I knew this one.

Eagle—With you.

Phoenix—-Still with you.

Spider—Okay, this I can see because both spiders and scorpions belong to the Arachnid family.

Rabbit—Oh, no, wait. I’m sorry. You’re breaking up.

Monkey—- Hello? Hello? Can you hear me?

Otter—- SORRY! WRONG NUMBER!

 

Anyway, I guess this imagery got stuck in my head over time. This idea of redemption through comeback. In fact, I think it’s become an obsession. More on that later maybe.

To close, I’ll put up a short list of other names that contended for the top spot.

List of names:

Failure

Failoirs

The Failings

Flushing the Past

Weeeeeeee!: Swinging on the Failure-Success Pendulum

The Life and Times of the Comeback Kid: A long and largely pointless personal history with so called “creativity”

How to Suck at Everything and Still Pretend You’re Happy

Am I Supposed To Be On Instagram?

The Latebloomer’s Guide to the Planet

Waiting to Choke

Define Too Late

The Flaky Phoenix

The Disoriented Phoenix

The Wobbly Phoenix

Imprisoned Development

Weird Dabbler’s Limbo

The Inconsequential Existential

Maybe Bob Isn’t Your Uncle

Still Fucking Up

NOTE: All these titles are originals as far as I know. Whether or not that is good to admit is a matter for history to decide. Bye for now.