Origins

People frequently ask me what "Remy Sea" means. Following is the thought process I underwent as I contemplated a "pen name" for this blog forever ago.
  1. Just before freshman year of high school, I read This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen, one of my favorite YA authors. The main character's name is Remy Starr, which I thought was poetic, because she was the star of the story (e.g. the protagonist). I greatly admired her determination, independence, and grit. She knows what she wants and she knows how to get it. She doesn't let herself get attached to any one person, and she certainly doesn't let any one person tell her what to do. She became my favorite fictional character because she was the (slightly rebellious) 18-year-old I wanted to become.
  2. I didn't (still don't) know how to swim. Hence, the vastness and unpredictability of the ocean used to (sometimes still does) frighten me deeply. But during sophomore year, I learned to reframe vastness as opportunity and unpredictability as spontaneity. The possibilities are boundless, but that also comes with immense uncertainty. Nevertheless, you must move forward and make (sometimes impulsive, spontaneous) decisions in order to stay afloat. 
  3. One day, it suddenly occurred to me that my Chinese name, 銳敏 (ruì mîn), said in Mandarin sounds somewhat like "Remy". Just say it quickly and don't think too hard about it--you'll understand what I mean. Obviously, at this point, the name of my favorite fictional character was still top of mind. This was also a way to integrate my heritage with my passion.
  4. In elementary school, when there were two Wendys in the class, I was called "Wendy C". I wanted my last name to somehow fit into my writing--and at this point I was pretty sure I wanted Remy to be a part of it--so I combined that with the concept of item 2. So "sea" represents the significance of the sea as I see it as well as the first letter of my last name.
And there you have the making of Remy Sea!

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