For almost all of my female life, I have been MaryJayne. (For a short time I was Ami Mizuno, but that was for a very short time and for mostly the wrong
reasons.) It's a corruption of Mary Jane, which is who I would have been, had I been more genetic girl than genetic boy early on. My middle name-Minako-
means beautiful (little) child, and is due to the finding of the beautiful woman inside. My surname-Sakura-was chosen because the samurai chose the cherry
blossom as their symbol. (I have always viewed myself somewhat in the mold of a Samurai, but not as one.) See, the cherry blossom falls from the tree during
its peak--it's beautiful and fragile, but falls from the tree in its prime.
Anyway…not all that long ago, I took a good hard look at myself. Where was I going? What was I doing? What kind of woman am I becoming/have I become? It
was in the middle of all this that it occurred to me: Even after a commonlaw name change, bank accounts, affinity cards, degrees and ordinations received and
so forth, that the persona of Jayne really wasn't working for me. I had been calling myself Mina-chan when I talked to myself for some time, and the realization
hit me: I was still in the shadow of the past, and not really looking ahead to my future. Jayne is who I was to have been…Minako (Mina for short) is who I am, who
I've become.
Now for those of you who don't live fulltime, or anywhere in the neighborhood of it, a name change is no big deal. (Some of you go so far as to change your names
to match your outfits.) But for me, this was no easy step to undertake. I thought about it for weeks. Finally, I decided I either need to do it or quit thinking it to death.
So I started by processing a new commonlaw name change to Minako Jayne Sakura. (I'm not changing it much-just reversing it a bit.) I've started going back
through all the cards, ID, degrees and stuff and have gotten many things changed. Others won't get changed until after I move and have a new address; as of this
writing that looks to be in about four to six months.
This will affect the website; I will be changing a few things over the next few months to reflect this change. Ultimately, I will be changing the name and address
of the website. (In fact, if you typed in Sakuramina.com, you have the new address.) Many of the articles won't have name changes, but some of the diaries from
when this whole change thing started will, as will contact info, etc.
I have said in my books that you need to choose your name wisely. The longer you live as a woman, the more difficult it is to get things changed.
The one thing I want you all to know is this: As a person, as a woman, I've matured a little bit. I hope this comes across in my writing, in my style, in my living life
the way I need to. Some things won't change, and I doubt I will change my name again; Mina fits me way better.
One other thing-the name is different, but I'll always sign off:
