Where did Feliz come from?

Growing up, I refused to be called anything other than Elizabeth. My whole life, adults and peers alike would try to shout Lizzy! Liz! Betsy! to get my attention. I’d give some serious side eye, turn around, and walk away. I definitely didn’t acknowledge teachers who shortened my name when taking attendance in elementary school. I suppose I’ve always been a little…snarky.

It wasn’t until bonding with my goofy roommate Freshman year at George Washington University who thought it was funny to add people’s last initials to their first names. That’s when Felizabeth was born.

Fast forward six years to a Yoga Teacher Training, where there were two Elizabeths who refuse to shorten their names. Neither of us had nicknames and everyone in the group agreed Felizabeth was too long (I disagreed). We all compromised for Feliz (read Fuliz - we were in NJ/NY).

I finished Graduate School at Columbia and was ready to change my instagram handle. Or maybe create one? I can’t remember if I had one. At a bar in Barcelona, a clever friend of mine came up with @felizboutthat, pointing we’ve all been saying it wrong for years. Maybe it’s because we were speaking in Spanish in Spain.

Anyway, everybody started calling me Feliz, thanks to a brilliant friend and social media. And so I became happy, but don’t worry - my snarkyness hasn’t gone away.