purlingswine

I ran across this article today on Metafilter. You can login with the username and password anonymous.

I got a tattoo nearly 7 years ago. It is a kanji. Of course, I don’t read nor do I write Japanese. After I finish this post, I am going to try and forget I ever read that article.

I had wanted a tattoo for a long time, but had always talked myself out of the idea. It seemed unseemly. I thought that girls (back then I still thought of myself as a girl) like me didn’t get tattooed. I wondered what people would think – especially when I was an old woman with a tattoo.

When I decided to get my tattoo there were many different – some horrible, some wonderful – things happening in my life. I made up my mind that if I indeed lived into a ripe old age, that people who might see my tattoo would think ‘Wow, she must have had an interesting life’. If not, then screw ’em.

I began researching – asking around about the best place. I even bought an ink pad and stamped myself to see if I would like the way it looked. I went on a Sunday. I roped a friend into going with me. When we got to the tattoo parlor – or studio– the guy there asked if we had an appointment. I could not believe what I was hearing! An appointment!! It was a Sunday morning for christsakes – it never occurred to me that I would need an appointment! We had to wait. During the forty-five minute wait, we got to talking with another client.

I wish now that I had come home and immediately written that conversation down on paper. So many of the details have left me. What I do remember is that this guy was vividly tattooed. And while I would not chose that for myself, I couldn’t help but admire the artistry involved in his pictures. He had a garden of iris on his right calf. They looked like a water color! Most of his tattoos were a memorial, or recognition of either a person or an event. They were commemorative.

I think of mine that way too. It is commemorative. The moment I did what I wanted to do – not necessarily the ‘right, mother-approved’ thing – the right thing for me. It was the first time I thought about and rejected anyone’s opinion but my own. And no matter what a Japanese linguist would say – for me it will always mean flourish, glory & shine.