I live a second life. By day, I am a mom, wife, professional. At night... (oh wait, that's not the story! That is perhaps something I read in a recent novel, or watched in a movie!) Who in the world really has time of a second life anyway? I barely have enough time for my own life!
There is, however, a side to me that some don't know about. That some would be surprised to know. That some judge me for. That some will think I am crazy for putting out there for others to see.That some might respect me for. A side that I am proud of; I am not ashamed of. But a side that I also don't get to see of myself very much.
I recently ran across this little article. I have no idea how old it is, but I find it entertaining at least.
I like to think of myself as an intelligent person. And I do agree that it is a beautiful form of art. I find it fascinating, and it will continue to be with me through life. (Mine won't be retained after death as I plan to be cremated). And yep, in the case I need to be identified, there will be no question!
I got my first tattoo in my late teens. It was lame. I mean, L. A. M. E. It was a small little heart about the size of a dime and I thought I was pretty cool.
When I was 25, I got my second tattoo. It is a cross with vines on my left hip. My husband had a matching one. (ahem, I did say had).
When I was 31 I had Merrick's original footprint from the hospital tattooed on to my lower right back with her name. There was a flower put in her instep to cover the heart.
When I was 33 I had Taya's footprint added with a flower in the instep to match her sisters. (Funny thing about that, you can tell which baby was the 6 pounder and which was the 9 pounder just by their feet prints!)
When I was 35, I had my back done. A pink dogwood with 4 blue butterflies, one for each of us.
Also, at 35, I had an iris added to both of the girls footprints because I did not love the font of their names. So, that got covered up.
At 36, I made the decision to have a visible tattoo. It was a hard decision for me in my line of work, and I was discouraged from doing it for professional reasons, but I determined that my professional life was only a part of my life. And my personal life was so much more, and if I wanted to have my girls names on my wrist for the world to see, then so be it. Besides, I can cover them when need be.
***If you are offended by side boob or butt crack in pictures, you may want to stop reading here. If you can see these things for artistic purpose, read on***
I recently decided that I wanted to do a photo shoot of my tattoos so that I can see them too. I gave the CD to my husband for Christmas, and scored a groupon for cheap canvases the day after Christmas. Overall, I was pretty happy with the outcome, but if you have ever seen a naked picture of your butt fat, it's pretty horrible and defeating. So, we definitely won't be ordering those!!!
I have a few favorites, and I will strategically place the "clean" ones first, just in case...
And here you have it. This is the rest of me that you don't see. Just an average girl. With large tattoos.
I think they are beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI remember the first time I realized that my friend had a huge tattoo covering her entire back. We're both in the same very professional field, and it just took me off guard. But it is who she is, and I like it. I'm not brave enough to get one of my own, mostly because I can't think of anything I like enough to have permanently.