I have a tattoo. It's fairly new, as tattoos go, about 8 months. My family isn't entirely accepting of tattoos but they aren't necessarily unaccepting either. They just don't have them and aren't quite sure why I would want them :).
For me, it was a big choice and one that I thought about for many years. I have struggled with anxiety and worry my entire life. I wanted something to help soothe that and represent what I truly know: that life is to be enjoyed and glorified and lived. I researched lots of different options, but I ended up deciding on the om symbol.
The Om symbol has deeply religious roots, in Hindu, Buddism, and Jainism. It literally means the universe, the past present and future, the origin and end of all things and all times. To me, this is God. I am a practicing Christian and I wanted a symbol that reminded me to be centered in my faith, to be pure in my walk and to set all my worries aside and focus on the tasks at hand. I love it. It's on the radial pulse of my left wrist and I see it every day.
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| Right after. It bleeds a bit! |
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| Marking out the design |
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| About an hour after. |
As I'm in a professional trade (nursing), I opted to go for a white ink tattoo and I couldn't be happier with the outcome. I also tend towards daintier, feminine things and the white ink fits my personality. Subtle but fully present. The tattoo artist wasn't thrilled to do a white tattoo. He cautioned me that as it healed, it would turn a color similar to skin and be hard to see. I understood. I wanted that, a design that looked like it was part of me.
Did it hurt? Heck yes it hurt! But it wasn't NEARLY as bad as I was expecting. It honestly only took about two minutes and the part that hurt the most was when he went back over the parts he had already done. It felt like stepping on a burr or getting bitten by a fire ant. The pain lasted maybe five minutes afterward. Easy peasy.
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| This is how my tattoo looks now, all healed up |
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| Black and white shows the contrast better. I love it! |
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