Sunday, March 29, 2009

Painted

Some people like tattoos. Some people don't like tattoos. 

Some people ask why I have tattoos and it is always a hard question to answer. It seems very surface to paint one's body... as if you weren't happy with what God gave you or you are trying to make yourself into a billboard or trying to be cool.  I guess some of that is probably true.  I am drawn to other people with tattoos and I often say those people are cool.  But not because they have tattoos.

The reason for tattoos is something deeper.  To others, it says I don't need to be accepted by you.  To me, it reminds me everyday of what I value, what I love, and who I am.  It represents my individualism in a world that doesn't always treat the individual kind...where the mob rules.  
In that world, I will take the underdogs... the people who don't live by all the rules, those who may be a little messed up by life, those who don't take the corporate jobs, those who are not afraid to use their voice and actions, those who are not content to just fit in, those who and kind and wear themselves on their sleeves.  

Okay, not the greatest explanation but you know what who cares. I guess I am just one of those people that like tattoos.

6 comments:

  1. No need to explain the why. Although I fear the pain too much for me to ever even consider a tattoo for myself, it is an art form and yours look pretty cool!

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  2. You have some beautiful tattoos. I always like the background stories about why people have certain tattoos. I bet yours have interesting tales! I just got my second tattoo last Monday in honor of my Mom.

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  3. It´s interesting to read your explanation! It´s really something to reflect about it!

    Great shot!

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  4. I am a don't like tatoos person. But I'm beginning to wonder if it is the subject, rather than the art, because I like yours. It seems you tatoo for the same reason I do not wear prostheses. It is what we want to do.

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  5. Thanks everyone for your comments. Vicki, I think you summed it up perfectly in less words that my rambling. "It is what we want to do".

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  6. Amen to the people who don't live by all the rules, those who don't take the corporate jobs, etc. I knew when I got my tattoo over 15 years ago that my family would be shocked, so it was some time before I think my son blurted out the dastardly deed to my mother. As the oldest child of a very religious family, I've always been the black sheep (so to speak), the one who took a different path. And no apologies offered by me.

    It's amazing as everyone ages, they seem to become more tolerant and more accepting of what might be different from their view of the world.

    Wonderful tattoos you have, quite vibrant.

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