Day 7: What tattoos you have and if they have meaning
Tattoos are so common these days that I imagine I may well be in the minority group being a tattoo virgin! That is at least as far as needles and inking and visible results are concerned!
I have a kind of quiet admiration for those who do go and sit for hours enduring discomfort at best and nasty pain at worst (I'm guessing here...do put me right if I'm not getting it) in order to decorate their birthday suits. Some choose a tiny design to show membership of a group or club. Others choose to declare their love for another or others or to commemorate an event or achievement. Tattoos seem to be a mark of belonging in some way; perhaps also proof of tenacity and the power to overcome? Maybe they are a way to show strength and commitment.
I don't have the courage to commit to a design on my skin...I am far too subject to change and redesign. I cringe at the thought of myself adding a visible tattoo with each new love I was sure would last forever, for each belief I thought I would forever believe. I'm happy with my habit of journal writing. I hope it will prove a safer way for me to explore feelings and thoughts intense enough to warrant recording in some way. A journal I can burn if I want to relieve myself of evidence.
My tattoos are of the invisible kind. Images, sounds, scents, textures, tastes; experiences burned with similar permanence into my brain and my very being. Though not visible to be admired or abhorred, my tattoos are markers of life in much the same way as those that can be seen. My tattoos are personal and private and concealed; not be seen unless I choose to share them with those close to me. Sometimes I share a story of something long past but still able to raise tears in my eyes with merely a thought...if the time is right and the company too. In those moments my scars are as visible as any worn outwardly for the world to see.
I have no tattoos to show you today, but I have a life rich with experiences and meaning and memories of loss and gain, grief and merriment, embarrassment and celebration. I am grateful for my invisible tattoos as they are proof of attendance at the School of Life.
Thoughts and insights welcome.
Cheers
Kerry x
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