RobArt Penguin

Daily writing prompt

Write about your first name: its meaning, significance, etymology, etc.

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Names are a paradox. Should I act specific ways to live up to my name and when I don’t have I failed? “Robert” can mean many things, but I have attached myself to the meaning: “bright fame.” I can look to De Niro, Duvall or Kennedy, as proof, or the many others. I personally like “Robert The Bruce” (old Scotland). I choose to ignore the infamous Roberts. I am hardly famous, or close to it. I am more like my father, who was a Robert and dropped out of society, half way through his life, when he was forty. When my job was eliminated, I mostly retreated, too. And because I have become isolated, it haunts me that I do not live up to my name. I have books out, but so far, they haven’t gone anywhere, even with the word “Robert” on the cover. Expectations are a killer. I know I shouldn’t lay the expectations about my name on myself, but I do anyway. Among my wife, kids and extended family, I’m bright, maybe famous. That may what I have to focus on. It makes me feel better.