The meaning of Fortitude + Finn

I was chatting with a cherished friend over the phone from Scottsdale the other day and she said, "I love the name, I don't know what it all means, but I love the name." And then I was like, shoot... that explanation is overdue... So here we go.

I mulled over the name of what might become a blog for at least 12 months, more like 18 of them. I can't say I really anticipated developing a blog, I wanted a place that could be an outlet for my heart and something to hold a portion of my thoughts and ideas, possibly just on paper. A place to share some of the things I've been through in hopes that I could spare someone else the hard work, however, I anticipated those people might be my kids or a close few around me. A place where I could get creative with photos that I was just taking to have. I talked about what that name might look like with my sister-in-law who is a genius within literature and who I love listening to when she speaks. I wrote things down. I paired different words together. I looked at the way letters laid out and abbreviations of my options. I knew I wanted it to generally speak of adventure but also wanted it to be rooted in something.  

And then I remembered walking by the audacious New York Public library with a dear friend who taught me that the lions out front were named. They stand strong through the storms, the snow, the rain, the sunshine, the disasters, the hurricanes and they represent New Yorkers. In the 1930's Mayor, Fiorello LaGuardia named one Fortitude and the other Patience. He knew well that you must maintain both of these attributes in order to survive New York City.

Fortitude means to have courage in the face of adversity. I like that. It resonates with me, it speaks to a characteristic I had developed throughout the course of my 20's. This piece of me continues to strengthen but marriage changes some of that as does allowing myself to be more dependant on the community around me, friends and family alike. This word felt like it tied into Justin and my relationship also. There have been several times where we've had to be really courageous in moments, maybe seasons of adversity that felt more than usually required. Done, I officially had the first word.

And then Finn. Finn felt like an easy pairing to Fortitude. It felt a little more light-hearted. It felt like it eased the hardship of Fortitude. It felt adventurous having been derived from Huckleberry Finn which is something I wanted more of while rolling into my 30's. More adventure, less of the serious, courageous and adverse memories that my 20's offered so generously. And because while I default to serious my husband defaults to humor. Which I love. It creates balance for us. So here sit with Fortitude + Finn. 

Justin loves this name. I'm constantly asking him if he likes a piece of clothing, a decoration, an idea for a shoot, etc. He answers me but with less conviction than I'd prefer and would rather I just make the choice. But when I mentioned this to him and unfolded more of what I wanted it to be he was so on board. I loved that. I say we a lot when I blog or post on IG and it's because while I do the posting and SO MUCH of the talking, Justin's heart is in this project too. He loves that the things that make our house a home are documented somewhere for us to look back on or to soak up in the present. He loves that there will be a photo library for our babies to show their babies. We love that it's the hard work and dripping sweat of both of our labor that is making our story and we love that we get to build a community to be involved in it.

xx-km