Today marks the fifth birthday of 6birds, and I decided I’d finally and officially share the story behind the name, so to speak.

The reason I have had so much trouble with this in the past is because I didn’t spend hours or weeks trying to decide which domain to go with. In the past, domains I’ve thought long and hard about haven’t always worked. I don’t do well when I make plans or goals or anything of that sort, because I find myself so wrapped up in the planning/how to do it that I lose sight of what’s really important: the end result.

When I received the AMEX gift card from my dad for Christmas in 2009, I started “brainstorming” what domain I could buy. I was so excited to be able to buy one, but I couldn’t think of a perfect one. I like to be unique — it’s what I aim for — but I try to get things that won’t become an annoying trend that I see absolutely everywhere later on, like chevrons or monochromatic initials.

At the time, I really just wanted and needed a restart of sorts, and I craved a domain name to the point that I was dreaming about buying a domain for my personal use.

I came up with a few choices for the name of this blog, but the two major ones that stuck out and spoke to me were 9birds.net and one other I can’t remember anymore.

Mimi had a bird… I really enjoyed listening to the birds in the country, because they’re in their natural habitat and there are so many different kinds. But that seriously played zero part in the making up of the blog name.

I had a criteria for myself:

• Must be memorable and unique.
• Must be shorter than 10 characters.
• Must be dynamic (i.e. nothing too specific) so I don’t bore of it too easily.

By flipping the number 9 upside down, you get 6. If not, you’re doing it wrong. “6birds” is also six characters, so doesn’t it work?

All in all, there is no meaning behind the name. Upon first registering the domain, it was a mere domain name. Did I expect to still have it five years later? Absolutely not. From Cents Gone to My Melodies to Seek Liza, I’ve had my annoyances with 6birds.net and have opted to change it in the past, but changes didn’t last… I always came back to it, because it’s become this hive that just… attracts me. Five years in the blogosphere is also a long while, and you meet a lot of people and leave your link in a lot of places. I’m a bit well-known as “the blogger of 6birds”, as it has become a part of me.

The only symbolic side of 6birds I can think up and do use lies in the word “birds”. Birds fly, and I loved Fly Away Home a little too much when I was a kid (the VHS got all static-y when it played, as I watched the movie at least 200 times)[1. Three other major favorites were Andre, The Adventures of Milo and Otis, Oliver & Company, The Brave Little Toaster, and All Dogs Go to Heaven, though my absolute favorite-ever was The Aristocats. My favorite story was anything Peter Rabbit-related.]. Birds, nests, wings, flight — with 6birds, I have created a theme for myself. I describe my blog as “the ramblings and flights of a dreamer”, because I am such.

When I dance, I feel like I’m such a lightweight, flying and floating in the air around me.

Make me a bird, why don’t you? 😉