Every now and then, someone asks me where the name Atthis' Secret Garden comes from. The short answer is that it comes from two things that have been with me for most of my life: birdwatching and nature. The long answer is definitely more fun.
When I was about eleven, way back in 2011, I went through a pretty intense birdwatching phase, and as often happens with children when they discover a new passion, I talked about it constantly. I was completely obsessed with one bird in particular: the kingfisher, or, to be more precise, Alcedo atthis.
It was my goal, the bird I most wanted to observe in nature. I read everything I could find, researched the best places to spot it, and was probably able to slip it into any conversation, even when it had absolutely no relevance. At a certain point, my schoolmates started jokingly teasing me for being "the one who watched birds," and instead of calling me Sofia, they simply started calling me "Atthis."
And the nickname stuck; I began using it as a name for email addresses, various accounts, and video game characters.
The funny part is that my real name, Sofia, has Greek origins, and "atthis" also comes from ancient Greek and literally means "of the Attic peninsula," that is, the region of Athens.
When many years later I began looking for a name for my project, that nickname suddenly seemed perfect. It was already mine, it had been faithfully with me for years.
And it told an important part of my story.
The second part of the name came much later.
For years, I tried to figure out the common thread that united all my passions, but the list was long. Tropical plants, birdwatching, trekking, herping, animals, invertebrates, fish, amphibians, reptiles, even dinosaurs and paleontology.
At first glance, they seemed like very different interests, but then I realized they actually all revolved around the same thing.
Nature!
I've never been good at separating these passions into separate compartments; for me, they've always been part of the same great ecosystem of curiosity and wonder, and I needed a name that could represent all of this. Not just geckos, not just reptiles, but the idea of a place where all these passions could coexist.
That's how Secret Garden was born. A small, personal space where I can continue to observe, learn, and share what fascinates me about the natural world.
Over time, I've realized that Atthis' Secret Garden has never been just a reptile breeder; it's become a collection of all the things I love.
Some change, some remain, and some return after years, but ultimately they all have the same root: curiosity.
That same curiosity that led me as a child to search for kingfishers along the waterways of my area, and that today drives me to spend hours observing a microgecko just a few centimeters long.
Perhaps, deep down, not much has changed.