tattoos

tattoos....you either love them or hate them....and people are very passionate one way or the other....now i in no way claim to be an expert, but i have lots of observations......as a tattoo fan myself, i notice them - always!! and i have very definite opinions like everyone else on what i think looks good......for me personally, my whole "where should i get one" decision stems from my desire to NOT have any obvious tattoos hanging about on my flabby extremities when i'm older....and i also have the occasional unprofessional, unmotherly cliche thoughts.....but that doesn't seem to stop me....i have 5 - which may seem like a lot, but really doesn't FEEL like a lot....altho 3 of them have been added on to, so i have actually been "in" for 7.... THAT may qualify me for "enthusiast" status, even tho SERIOUS tattoo people would probably laugh.....mostly because they are girlie & small......

i have managed to avoid places that are always visible - which in some way defeats the purpose of a tattoo, but in another just reinforces WHY i get them.....my tattoos are FOR ME - they are personal messages or memories.....they are like a window into the different periods in my life - with COLOR ..... so i love them for both how they appear and what they mean to me.....i've actually drawn 3 of them - and had friends draw the other 2......so they are not random pieces of art i picked out of a book or off a wall - not that those aren't great as well .... i just think tattoos have different meanings for different people...

now my dad was a young navy man....and he had the traditional sailor anchor on his forearm - very POPEYE like.....and so i always had a positive image of tattoos because my pop had one.....and then of course, i love ART - so i'm amazed when i see an amazing picture on someone's BODY.....my oldest sister was one of the first women i ever knew to get one, and i loved it on her (my mom, however, did not )....you see 20 years ago when she got her first, it was still relatively taboo for anyone, much less a woman, to get tattoos - they were still in the "biker/bad boy" genre......oh, how far they have come!!

Your body is a temple, but how long can you live in the same house before you redecorate? -- Author Unknown

now i also realize that tattoos have become "trendy" - what's funny to me is that in being the "cool" thing for young people, they've lost some of their meaning......i think people who used to get them were making a statement - about a group, or a lifestyle - or a moment in time.....now it's like you HAVE to have one......it's almost unusual to meet people without any.... and i'm amazed at the  number of young people who have them....i would NEVER sign off on a tattoo for my kids....and i love them.....but i don't think you can understand the PERMANENCY of a tattoo until you are older.....all of these super cute, super SKINNY young girls who are putting tattoos all over their STOMACHS make me crazy.....because a) i'm old and b) all i can think is those are not going to look so super cuter when there is a giant BABY stretching all that skin out!!!  so see, i walk a fine line in the whole should you or shouldnt you debate.....because i really think you need to have some perspective before you get one.....

i was trying to explain this to my boys the other day when i got my most recent.....we had a big giant debate over the best place for me to get it.....i avoid legs.....mostly out of my antiquated conservative position that i dont want my tattoos hanging  out if i wear a dress at my sons wedding....which leaves me somewhat limited......and i was seriously contemplating my outer forearm (like my friend sams) - which my work related hubby was not a fan of in the manner of it being "unprofessional"....and i realized we are now officially the "older" generation!!  tattoos are so common in the 20 somethings, that most employers dont even bat an eyelash.....i mean if you have them from head to toe, maybe.....but i think tattoos have taken a back seat to PIERCINGS in the "frowned upon" work environment.....young people have ZERO qualms about putting them whereever......and most of me thinks "good for them".....but then that old stodgy part cringes just a little : )

my advice to my kids is that they wait until they are not only old enough but CONFIDENT enough to speak their mind and understand that their tattoos are permanent.....when i got my first one, i was not.....and i don't hate it (exactly) because it represents where i was in my life when i got it,  but every time i look at it i wish i had had the balls to tell the very scary tattoo guy in providence that i wasn't  a giant fan of his design....it seemed insulting somehow - and so i now have it permanently adorning my body.....so in hindsight, i was too young....and while i ALWAYS give my husband a hard time about chickening out that day (he was supposed to get the same one with me and his roommate), he probably made  the smarter decision ..... or maybe he was more afraid of his mom than i was :)

anyhow, i'm not sure how i got on this subject except that my girlfriend got another one today - and she is young.....i LOVE IT......it just says "stronger"....and it made me think that most of the women i know who have them or get them do it to feel empowered somehow.....we put sayings for strength and love and inspiration on our bodies as permanent reminders that we are STRONG and BEAUTIFUL.....to me that is never a bad thing!!  after all, tattoos are not meant for other people, they are meant for US.....and we are STRONG and we are BEAUTIFUL!!

Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson