I was nominated by @gpalav for the #SteemitNameChallenge ♥️

![Image - Omi Taylor](https://steemitimages.com/DQmZaBWa9PbVoxhktbXtjDDK5qsVp29kL9o3QsPVgSjGtb1/Untitled%20design%20(4).jpg)
<sub><sup>Image made in Canva from CC0 assets</sup></sub>

I've written previously about [why I'm not BRIX BOSTON on Steemit](https://steemit.com/blog/@omitaylor/rant-why-i-m-not-brix-boston-on-steemit) but I never got around to explaining why I'm Omi Taylor on Steemit. I almost thought I dodged the bullet. Silly me. <em>^wink</em>

I was nominated by @gpalav for the #SteemitNameChallenge.

> "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."
<em>~Juliet, Romeo & Juliet by  William Shakespeare</em>

<h3>My real name is Salome Taylor</h3>

Actually, my real name is five names long. I was born with a first name, a middle name, and my mother's maiden name. Then my mother got married and my father's name was appended to my name. Lastly, I have an appended name from my former marriage.

How did I get Omi from Salome? Well, my mother and I share a first name. It goes back several generations among first daughters. My mother's nickname is Sal or Sally. Growing up, many people called me <em>Little Sal</em> because I resemble my mother in appearance and because we shared a name. But when I got into High School, I wasn't really fond of people calling me that. All my life, I felt it didn't really give me my own identity to share a name with my mother. What made it worse was that we're both Gemini's and have a lot of the same personality traits.

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I decided in my Freshmen year to start introducing myself as Ome. Since my mother is Sal — I would be Ome. See how that works? Then another problem arose when I spelled it out. <strong>People read it as OM</strong>, and pronounced the e silently. Since Salome is prononced Sal-O-ME or Sal-O-MAY, I decided to start spelling it with an I instead of an E.

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So that's how I got around to spelling my nickname Omi. Later I found out Omi is actually a name and word in many languages. I'll get to that in a moment though.

<strong>The meaning of my real name, Salome, is Peace.</strong> It's rooted in the Arabic word Salam and Hebrew word Shalom. Technically it means God's Peace, or the Peace of God. The word is often used to also say hello and goodbye. 

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>Confession: I also was never a fan of how people mispronounced my full name, Salome. Most people mispronounce it Salami — which is a savory pork based cold cut deli meat.

Digressing, after awhile folks started clowning the name Omi too. I guess it's natural to make light and humor of things like that. Omi the Lonely, Omi the Homie (I like this one), Oh My!, and Omi Balogne were all popular.

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Around Junior year in highschool, a class-mate told me about [Amartzu OmiKami](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amaterasu) which is an ancient Japanese goddess of the Sun. That was really cool. I looked it up and so the name Omi had renewed meaning for me. In Japanese it's a title of veneration and respect. In the Philippines we use the word po at the end of sentences to denote respect, so it hugged my fragile tiny ego to learn that.

Even later, after highschool, a friend of mine started calling me Om Eye. When I asked him why he called me that he went on to explain an elaborate breakdown of the symbolic meaning of the sound of words to him.

Om is a symbol for the sound of the universe and goes back to antediluvian times. It's believed it's the voice of god that holds the order of all together — the bara, the Jedi force. Eye is a symbol of enlightenment that goes back to very ancient times as well.

Illuminati Confirmed?

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This has nothing to do with my Annunaki bloodline, I promise.

Meditating OM (technically spelled AUM) manifests self-awareness, e.g. the EYE ("I") self.

Groovy dude.

<h1>Why did I choose my (sort-of) real name for Steemit?</h1>

I've been using my name online for awhile. I use it on Linkedin and in my business. I guess you can say I'm branding it. But that's not really an active intention. Really, it's just easier— and I'm getting older and less interested in giving a shit about certain privacy issues. I'm halfway through my life and don't need approval or to keep track of my identities on a spreadsheet anymore. And frankly, if anyone wants to steel my $6 dollars I have floating around, f-ckem; they probably need it more than I do. At this point in my life, I just want to be.

<h1>Would I change my username?</h1>

Nope. This works for me. :)

Although I may want to open some other accounts for alter-ego's in the future. I'll let 'yall know. Lol.

<hr>

<h1>Steemit Name Challenge Rules</h1>
* Tell us in a post how you chose the current Steemit username you have. The story behind it.
* Tell us your real name!
* If you could change your current username, which name would you choose and why? If you have a possible usernames list, mention it!
* Use the tag #steemitnamechallenge so that I can track all the posts and check them out
Nominate 5 people for this challenge

<hr>

<h1>Nominations</h1>

I nominate:
@amico
@acidyo
@meno
@truce
@proprlee

and bonus nominations
@scuzzy
@jazzyfish

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Upvote if you love Pizza. Lol.

![signature2.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmXJuDNkoRs4gfojMkRh3CbC3UuFpEe1kYrgAdB7dNZozN/signature2.png)



<sub><sup>Image made in Canva from CC0 assets. All gifs hosted on Giphy</sup></sub>