Naming Changes Everything

For fourteen years, a plant has lived outside my living room window.

I’ve seen it every day. But until recently, I didn’t know its name.

I looked it up last week: Dwarf umbrella tree.

And suddenly, it wasn’t just that plant. It was something with lineage. Something I was in relationship with.

Naming didn’t just change what I saw—it changed how I saw it.

Like our UPS driver who always yells “UPS! when he drops packages at our door. Who waves from his truck during our neighborhood walks. Part of our daily landscape.

“What’s your name?” I asked one day.

“Jesus,” he replied, eyes wide with surprise.

As if no one had ever thought to ask.

I told him how much I appreciated him—how he always noticed us.

The next time he swung by, I gave him a handmade token and chocolate—both personalized with his name.

We forget how much it matters—to be named, to be noticed, to be seen as more than just part of the background.

A plant.

A person.

A moment.

Once you name it, everything transforms. You show up differently. With more attention. With a little more care.

Because, now, it’s a relationship.