Tattoos
Got two tattoos so far, going to get a third someday. I don't have any plans for any more after number three, but we shall see.
First one is on my left arm, right above my wrist. On the up side, it's a chain. The chain links break under my wrist, and in script between them is written 'finally breaking the chains' . It's a line from a song Mister Ellis wrote for me, and it's about being free from my past. I'm not always entirely so - sometimes things get dredged up, and I still got way more baggage from it than I'd like. But that's there to remind me that I got no reason to chain myself to any of that. I don't have to own the past, I can let it go. The tattoo also conceals a tiny scar, right where the chains break.
Up on my left bicep is the second tattoo - done for the three of swords, the tarot card. It's three swords piercing a realistic looking human heart (mine). It's from a tarot reading I had where the card came up, told me I had a kinda gauntlet to run. It's about going through and surviving some painful things, and about having the courage to do so again if ever I need to. Things can pierce your heart like that, but you don't got to let them break you - I guess that's the message from that one.
Third tattoo is going to be a magnolia blossom, I think. For Ellis and New Orleans. That one's going to be on my hip. Also on the left side. I don't know why the left side is that tattoo side - it just is. I'm all uneven like that.
Part of what i like about tattoos is that they're a way to change your body and make it your own, a customization that stays inked into you. Something you can keep with you, and look at, and remember what it means to you and why you put it there to begin with. I know some folks get tattoos just 'cause they look nice or cool or whatever, and don't ascribe much meaning at all to them, if any. Really though to me, if it's something you're going to carry with you all your life, it should mean something. It's also I think a symbol that my body's my own now. Don't have anyone telling me I got to be thinner or prettier, don't have anyone saying no you can't ink yourself up because it'll hurt your chances at an audition for a squeaky clean role. My body belongs to me and I can ink memories into it, hold on to them. That's a real nice feeling.