Anastasia Tempest
Could something as simple as changing your name change your life? says it can…
that explained my difficult relationship with my mum.
For so many years, it felt like nobody really wanted me, nobody was there to support me, and nobody believed in me.
But I had my work and campaigned over disability issues. I enjoyed going out with friends to the theatre and concerts, seeing favourite artists like Cher several times. Everyday life could be complicated for me, but I always managed.
Over time, I realised I was far stronger than I had ever thought.
I’ve always been fascinated by faraway places – Russia and Russian culture in particular. It was my dream to travel to Russia.
I always admired the Russian version of my first name – Anastasia – in different books and plays.
Aged 40, I was watching a film of a Barbara
Taylor
Bradford novel called Voices of the Heart – whose heroine was named Katharine Tempest.
I’d never liked being plain Anna Smith. My first name was given to me by the mother who I felt didn’t love me. My surname was that of the foster parents, who I felt were unkind to me.
Every time anybody called me Anna Smith, it was a reminder of my unhappy past.
But watching that film got me thinking… Tempest was a great name.
Afterwards, I put it together with Anastasia to make Anastasia Tempest. Now, that was a name I did like. I doodled it over and over in a notebook. Anastasia Tempest sounded like a powerful woman – somebody who made things happen.
The sort of person I wanted to be…
I went online to find out how to legally change my name by deed poll. It was surprisingly easy. Soon afterwards, ‘People ask, what’s in a name? I’d say a lot. Changing mine was liberating – I invented my own label and I feel stronger than ever.’
‘If there’s one thing I’ve learned’