Just in case it was not obvious, I have tattoos. And . . . AHHHHHH . . . . I am a father. There is such negativity that revolves around tattoos, but add in that you are a parent and the world has come to an end. Believe it or not, my first tattoo drilled into my right forearm once I was out of my parents house.
I had the greatest of intentions when getting this tattoo. That is Hebrew writing, and it is supposed to say "God is Love", but later on in my days of repairing appliances, I end up at Jewish families house. And their Bar Mitzvah teacher was there. Come to find out, that is not exactly the way it is supposed to be.
My second tattoo is a cross with the face of Jesus in it. It was eventually supposed to be colored in, but that obviously has yet to happen. There really is not much of a story to this one. I wanted a tattoo, saw the drawing in the shop, liked it and got it.
My third tattoo I got not long after Madison was born. I found a new artist in Santa Barbara, but I did what a lot of people stupidly do; I did not listen to the artist when it came to his thoughts about the tattoo. I found the design online, and instead of listening to what he had to say about changing it up, I decided to put my foot down about it. I wanted a tribal badly. I found something that I liked a lot. The end result . . . I wish I would have listened to my artist. hahaha
For a very, very, very long time, I have loved the art of Japanese tattoos. At the same time, I also regreted the mis-translation on my right arm. So, yes, I got it covered up with one of my fav tatt art. The dragonfish on my forearm is the koi fish that has reached the waterfall and is now transforming into the dragon. I started getting this tatt after my ex-wife and I separated, and for me, the dragonfish symbolizes that transformation.
Getting that first tattoo was a really hard decision to make. I grew up in a very strong Christian household and family, and I was also very involved in the church. So, you can imagine what was going through my head, What is my family going to say? They are going to kill me? Is this going to be an issue with my job? What is my church going to say? I finally got to the point that I just did not care. The tattoo was meant to grab people's attention. To get them to ask questions about it. What I never did was put any thought into the amount of negativity that stemmed off of something with pure positive intentions.
I have heard of a lot of tatted parents getting such negative looks, comments, and so on in regards to their tattoos. I have only had a couple of negative experiences, and they were all dirty looks. Sure, dirty looks do not speak audibly as do words, but you would have to be blind to not see what those looks meant. I find it incredibly ridiculous that people find the need to just judge your parenting skills or abilities because you have art inked on your body.
I was actually discussing some ideas for my left arm with Holly a couple of weeks ago. The ideas were so great that I was really getting excited about them. I made the stupid decision to talk to someone about it, and they tell me that "If you like it for the art so much, then frame it". Tattoos, in themselves, are art. But, it is the meaning behind and in them that is so much more.
To me, now that I have "grown up", tattoos have such a strong meaning to me. Tattoos are not just beautiful art, but they also tell stories of where you were in life at the time that you got it. They may have been gotten to remember a loved one, to show that you have overcome a great hardship in life. If you look back a bit, Tattoo Thief goes over Holly's tattoos, and they all pretty much cover what I just said. She has done what I am currently sucking at doing . . . putting serious thought into what she is getting inked into her skin. Her current work in progress is prolly my fav so far. Just think, there is more to come with it. More to be added. I am actually anxious about it.
Now, who out there has tatts? I know you are out there. Did you have any negative feedback? Are there any meanings behind your tatts?
