Meaning of our Lives in our Tattoos
For those who may not know, I currently have two tattoos. One on each forearm. These were inked at separate times. So when people say that they are addicting, I agree. Despite the pain associated with them (it's like a cat scratch over and over and over) I find myself looking for new ideas and new places to put them.
One such idea was having my paternal grandfather's name tattooed across my shoulders. The font that I would use would essentially be scaled up from one of his many blueprints that we have from his drafting days. The explanation behind this would be more of a personal "We stand on the shoulders of giants" kind of saying. Without him and his love and sacrifice for my family, I would not be where I am today.
But why would I get this? The guy has been dead for over a decade and I still think of him whenever I see my grandmother so why do I need a tattoo of his name? Applying this to other people, why do they get tattoo's of peoples birth dates and expiration dates? Or put the decals on their pickup truck (it's rarely a sedan or coupe, trust me) of some dead relative - or worse - Dale Earnhardt (that's a whole other post in itself).
I think it gives us some sort of meaning or some sort of baseline to try and follow. In my case, he would be a person I want to strive to be: funny, knowledgable ("Never say your car is broke"), outgoing, a provider, stoic, etc. I think those are all traits I wouldn't mind having. But what about the stillborn babies or the hooligans? Are you just going to pull their good traits and forget their bad ones?
But why do we need this sort of guidance? Are we that much lacking in faith as a society that we need to pin our guidance on dead persons? Oh wait, we already do.
EDIT: Reading through Post Secret this week I found this secret. Guess I'm not the only one who has noticed this trend:
One such idea was having my paternal grandfather's name tattooed across my shoulders. The font that I would use would essentially be scaled up from one of his many blueprints that we have from his drafting days. The explanation behind this would be more of a personal "We stand on the shoulders of giants" kind of saying. Without him and his love and sacrifice for my family, I would not be where I am today.
But why would I get this? The guy has been dead for over a decade and I still think of him whenever I see my grandmother so why do I need a tattoo of his name? Applying this to other people, why do they get tattoo's of peoples birth dates and expiration dates? Or put the decals on their pickup truck (it's rarely a sedan or coupe, trust me) of some dead relative - or worse - Dale Earnhardt (that's a whole other post in itself).
I think it gives us some sort of meaning or some sort of baseline to try and follow. In my case, he would be a person I want to strive to be: funny, knowledgable ("Never say your car is broke"), outgoing, a provider, stoic, etc. I think those are all traits I wouldn't mind having. But what about the stillborn babies or the hooligans? Are you just going to pull their good traits and forget their bad ones?
But why do we need this sort of guidance? Are we that much lacking in faith as a society that we need to pin our guidance on dead persons? Oh wait, we already do.
EDIT: Reading through Post Secret this week I found this secret. Guess I'm not the only one who has noticed this trend: