Ses. The perfectly imperfect yours truly.

Why Sesaluna? Why, I’m pleased as punch you asked! My go-to cyber persona originates from a 1993 children’s book, “Stellaluna.” Essentially a modern, more relevant and far superior re-telling of  ‘The Ugly Duckling’, it’s authenticity-centric theme is punctuated by endearing lessons on friendship and acceptance – of both ourselves and others.

Our heroine is a baby fruit bat, Stellaluna, who fate drops (literally) one night into the care of a bird family, none of whom realize she isn’t a fellow hatchling (they call it “bird-brain” for a reason). Her surrogate family loves Stellaluna, yet they are thoroughly baffled by her peculiar behaviors: her finicky appetite (preferring fruit to regurgitated worms, puke), her manner of sleeping (hanging upside down – who DOES that?), and the hours she keeps (flying @ night even though she’s not an owl?) are all wrong, potentially even dangerous inclinations they diligently struggle to condition out of her.

Stellaluna grows up loved but troubled by the sense that she must somehow be broken for her internal compass to be so vastly off the true North of her entire community. One day she serendipitously happens upon her real mama, who, recognizing Stellaluna explains that her instincts have been perfect and correct all along. Her bird family meant no harm but they were clueless about being bats, or anything other than  birds, so their efforts to re-make her norms to match their own were misguided, regardless of good intentions.

When my high school bestie read this she thought of me immediately and re-christened me the next day. “You are that bat – you are SO Sesaluna!” she swore, malapropisming the title character’s name. I liked the story and the name stuck, even after half a Saturday at the local mega-bookstore several months later revealed her error, mostly because i liked “Ses” better than “Stella” for its slightly higher rarity and uniqueness scores.

Of my many-thousand nicknames Sesaluna was always the definitive moniker, most apropos given the major themes in my life revolve about truth, honesty/authenticity, and acceptance of each others expression thereof. Ses loves to evolve with me. So I choose to bring Ses with me yet again, as i did in high school, college, in myriad virtual and gamer handles since, and now to this blog, where i hope her voice will finally be fully heard as her own, truly Ses, free to express and emote as she damn well pleases.  

PS> You can buy the award-winning Reading Rainbow book ‘Stellaluna’ by Janell Cannon for one or all of your brood, your brood’s brood, or your own inner child at Amazon.com: Buy Stellaluna.