It has been a long while that I have been contemplating getting a tattoo. So finally, I said to my husband one day, " I want a tattoo for my birthday". (Which happens to be today.) I have thought it over for months, to the point of waking up in the middle of the night to think of ideas. I had totally planned to have a smaller tattoo placed on my inner left wrist. The sketches above, are the concepts that I spent time working up. The squirrels would be significant because they were used as a motif for my wedding. I also included many different flowers on my designs that had special meaning to me. (Specifically Lily of the Valley which has a universal meaning of seeking happiness, and it reminds me of my Mom.) The seashell drawing would be significant to me as a reminder to keep working towards being able to live by the ocean and I can not think of one thing I love more than being near the sea and all the ecology that goes with it. ( I'm a total nerd, I know) So... after working out all these sketches and doing tons of research on local tattoo artists and tattoos in general, why am I not getting it done?
Here are a few reasons:
1. I am a major control freak. Its hard for me to imagine another human drawing on my skin. If they altered my drawing in any way, I would be disappointed. Human error, which is inevitable, would happen and then drive me C-R-A-Z-Y.
2. This is another control thing. All tattoos fade over time and feather around the edges. Yes, you can take really good care of them, but IT WILL HAPPEN. I'm a perfectionist, and the odds are, the minute one little dot of ink feathered or blurred, I would be annoyed.
3. Change. My tastes change like the wind. Yes, I will always love squirrels, seashells and flowers, but its bigger than that. At some point, I may not want to profess that love so openly.
4. Getting it for the wrong reason. As most artists, I am interested in things that look "cool". I like to follow trends and I really love the look of inner wrist tattoos. The only thing is, I am a little afraid it will become the next lower back tattoo... or tickle me Elmo... or those
weird sunglasses that look impossible to see out of. You know, waaaay too overdone!
5. I don't want to be asked questions or groped by strangers... or casual
acquaintances for that matter. I've seen it happen, probably done it before, and simply do not want to deal with it.
6. I have have made enough impulsive decisions in my life, and I finally found something that I explored and was interested in, but ultimately decided was not right for me. I love the culture surrounding tattoos, and the art is AMAZING if its done by the right artist. I think
Kat Von D is wickedly cool, and I love her tattoos... on her.
Regardless of my decision, I still liked the little pieces of art that came from exploring this option. I know this is a long and slightly off topic blog post for me, but I feel that I made the correct decision for me and I want to encourage others to think things through before they make big decisions, no matter what the end decision.