1. Notes: 12 / 1 year ago 

   Bringing Light

   On May 8th, 2010, I married the love of my life, Ilea Dorsey. Naturally the assumption is that we would change her last name to mine, Miller. However, it’s a rare occasion that we roll with the status quo. When we first started talking about marriage, I tossed out the idea of changing both of our last names when we got married. And Ilea was totally open to it (because she’s the coolest).

   We know it sounds crazy, but…does it really? Why not? We can change our name if we want to. And we can make it something that reflects who we are, how we live our lives, what we believe in; something we will pass down to our children with pride.

   We spoke to my parents about the concept as soon as we started entertaining the idea for real. My father’s words were “I certainly hope we leave a bigger legacy behind us than our last name (Miller). We believe in what you’re doing and you have our complete support.” I don’t think I could have wished for a better reply than that.

   We’ve been researching names for a year now. From the beginning I was committed to a Swahili name because I love the culture and have followed it since I was a child. So I enlisted my good friend Bachu Anwar, a Swahili Rasta, born in Kenya. He’s a close friend and knows me well. His mother is an iconic Swahili woman and a historian of their culture. They agreed to walk us through the naming process.

   Many friends have shared their thoughts on what the name should represent. Our good friend Greg Skye (Skye Chiropractic) said, “It should be something that speaks to you spreading light into other’s lives”. We put a lot of value on Dr. Skye’s intuition, so we took that to heart.

   After much debate, a lot of thought and a lot of prayer, we have come to a conclusion. Starting January 1st, we will be known as Jared & Ilea Angaza.

   angaza

   verb | Swahili origin

   1 enlighten, instruct, throw light on [figurative]

   2 shine, illuminate, be the light, give light, irradiate

   It is beautiful, exotic and a solid reflection of our ethos. We are honored to take on this name and culture. In February we will travel to Kampala, Uganda to experience the naming ceremony, conducted by Bachu and his mother. This is truly an honor. We are in the midst of filing all of the legal work in the US and hope to have all of our documents (Social Security, Passports, License, IRS, etc.) switched over within the next six months.

   Yep, it’s a little crazy and out of the norm, but that’s par for the course for us. We’re ready to start our family, with a name we have deliberately chosen, as a proclamation of who we are.

   Much love and Many Blessings,

   Jared & Ilea Angaza

   

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These are my thoughts, and more likely my agendas. Let’s call a spade a spade. I want to inspire people to treat each other with love and respect, and to live each second as if it were our last.

At the end of the day, I appreciate the journey, good and bad. I believe there is purpose in everything; literally everything. And the more I embrace that, the more I truly live; the more peace I have.

I believe in the social entrepreneur model, as opposed to the traditional forms of aid that have crippled developing nations for decades. And on top of that, I believe the fashion industry is one of the best industries to leverage as a tool to combat poverty and help restore dignity to developing nations. So that's my thing. If that's not appealing, you might want to read a different blog.

I believe in the power and importance of ubuntu. I aspire to do more…more than I have to. I won’t "change the whole world", but I intend to make some significant improvements along the way as I try. And I’ll fight for all sorts of justice, up to the day they throw dirt on me.

I thank God that I get to live this life. Carpe diem.

+ Comments are welcome. I'd love for this to be a two way conversation. +

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