Wednesday, December 3, 2008

some more about tattoos...

In case you didn't know, tattoo's are usually on my mind. Simmering on the back burner or dancing around the edges of my thoughts, occasionally right there in the forefront, egging me on .

But after all this time I still don't have one. Typically I chalk it up to not having found the desired imagery and location, but I think it's a bit more than that. See, I spoke to this woman the other day; she had an amazing tattoo on her left arm and after talking for a bit she mentioned that she had had huge buyers remorse the day after she got it. She wore a certain a shirt and hated how it looked with the tattoo. This after planning the tattoo for some time- putting down deposits at parlors all over town then finally spent quite a bit of time working with this particular artist on the image. Yet she still woke up the next day, looked at her fresh ink, and wondered if she had done the right thing.

She loves her tattoo now, but it was good for me to hear her account because I am inclined towards having buyers remorse. Almost every large purchase or decision I make causes me conniptions after I sign on the dotted line. "AAGH! It was a mistake! I shouldn't have done that!!!" Then I usually get over it and am happy with what I bought/did.
But still.
The permanence of it, on my flesh!

So, for the moment, I satisfy my urge for ink with ball point pen on the regions of my body that my right hand can reasonably reach. And maybe eventually I will be ready for the next level. And even after I am ready, I may still have buyers remorse the next day, and that will be okay. Here is my most recent doodle:
flock of birds_diptych

" I had leave the house of self-importance
To doodle my first tattoo
To realize a tattoo is no more permanent
Than I am..."
-Ani Difranco. Shroud

12 comments:

amelia said...

i think i'm too much of a wuss to actually get a tattoo. it seems like it would hurt. and i dislike unnecessary pain. but i really like this doodle. if i got a tattoo, i think i'd like something like that.

The Numismatist said...

I've also been wanting a tatoo lately. Maybe just a little something on my, well, I don't know where. At age 54 there isn't anywhere left that is nice enough to put something on.

A few years ago my daughter (Athena, not Eris) came home from CA with a darling frog climbing over her shoulder. It was done with some cousins after consuming a fair amount of alcohol. Anyway, that adorable little frog cost her over $3,000 in medical bills from the staff infection that came with it. Another reason I am hesitant.

One other problem, my mother would freak out and my DH would also not like it much. sigh.

If I could draw anything more than a crooked stick figure I might consider doing what you do. Your artwork is lovely. And oh, what beautiful shoulders and arms you have. I certainly don't see any "ward chorister bags" hanging there!

Eris said...

I don't want a tattoo right now, but can see the attraction. But I do want a facial piercing and Mr. Eris says he would hate it. I don't usually allow him to veto anything - I have had several drastic hair styles and colors - but this one seems like a deal breaker.

Could this be part of your hesitation? Besides buyer's remorse, are you subconsciously trying to protect from having to deal with the reaction of others?

And Numismatist, I will drive you there myself and you can stay on my couch if Dad gets mad.

angryyoungwoman said...

I love that picture--beautiful, wow! How do you draw accurately on your own skin? I can never do it.

Kaimi said...

Two words for you, G.

Hen. Na.

:P

galen dara said...

hey amelia, yeah... there is needles involved I hear it is pretty uncomfortable.

numistmatist facts, hahaha! I can't wait to see that little something on your, well, where ever. :) and ya, definitely not going to be fair amounts of alcohol involved if I do get ink.

eris, yep, the fact that my hubby is rather ambivalent about this (read: "well, if you really want to I can't stop you") puts a damper on my enthusiasm. AND the reactions of other family as well, it would be rather uncomfortable when my sibs and parent discovered it. so yes... that is also a factor.

thanks awy! the trick is to not care if it is not accurate, because it won't be. :)

kiami, lol!

M said...

I got my first tattoo last March and have not had buyers remorse. As well I am a active member of the church and a RM of over a month to Idaho. So I decided last March to get a a tattoo of the state of Idaho, I got it and have yet had buyers remorse. I looked into parlors and what I wanted. Research is the best for getting a tattoo. I want to get mine filled with the Arizona flag in the middle of the state in the future. When I got my Tattoo on my left side of my stomach it didn't hurt at all. My parents were disapointed and my sister didn't talk to me for 2 months because of it. That is what is holding me back on getting it filled. My family still loves me.

mfranti said...

i don't miss my nose piercing anymore.
i saw too many women with them and i hate being like everyone else so i let a little infection be the end of it for me.

tatoos..i've thought about it in the past but now, i have no desire.

i can't imagine being happy with it when i'm 63.

galen dara said...

mike the great~ Idaho... with an Arizona flag... cool!

mel~ yeah, I have to admit... the growing prevalence of such things makes them less intriguing to me, but the pull is still there.

Unknown said...

agreed. this is why i do henna tattoos on my hands and feet at least once or twice a year. it helps to have the beautiful markings, to change designs and locations, to not have the pain or the buyers remorse. i am so mercurial that I can barely commit to a place to live, let alone a tat on my skin forever.

though all my siblings have them and really like them.

Unknown said...

I try not to let the prevalence or lack thereof determine what I like and want to do. Alternative healthcare is becoming more and more popular but that doesn't change my passion for it. I see hundreds of people at work everyday with piercings and tattoos and I still want it, because it's for me, not anybody else. If my feelings about something change because other people do it, I know that I wasn't really doing it for me, because I love it; I was doing it to make a statement. This has been true for me regarding hair color. I used to do all kinds of funky colors but then it seemed like everyone was doing it, so I stopped. It wasn't really about me - it was about what people saw when they looked at me.

If we're in a better place financially in February, I'm getting a poem tattooed on my arm. I'm pretty sure I'll end up with a lot of tattoos once I get started. I love the idea of using the body as a canvas.

I used to work in nursing homes and hospices and I saw a lot of old, old tattoos. I often asked the residents if they regretted the tattoos, especially once the effects of time appeared. I never heard anybody say that they had regrets. One old woman told me that even if it looks ugly now, she remembers the girl she used to be and what her life was like when she got it, so it's worth it to her.

I also ask people who come through my line at work about their tattoos - if it hurt, how much it cost, how they decided on a design and if they had regrets. Everyone seems pretty happy with the decision. One of my coworkers has a few tattoos - one of a line of stars on her collarbone and another of the outline of a man and woman on her forearm. I asked her if they have special meaning and she said that all of her tattoos were spur-of-the-moment ideas, that they don't really mean anything and she's glad she did it. I worry less and less about regret the more I talk to people who have done it.

I think about tattoos all the time. I've hesitated because I, too, struggle with deciding on an image that I think I could live with forever. I'm trying to be less nitpicky and more spontaneous. Yes, it's about the image, and what people see when they see me, but there are so many things inside of me that have changed that leave scars. If I had a big tattoo on my back of CTR (I did see that once, on someone else) or a phrase from the Book of Mormon, I honestly don't think I would regret it, even though I'm not Mormon anymore. It would stand as a reminder of what I used to be. There shouldn't be regret for such things, just memories and lessons.

galen dara said...

d'arcy~ I love the look of henna, ball point pen is sort of my cheap and easy stand-in for that. I like being able to have a new fresh canvas every week or so. (I should probably not get a permanent tattoo on those areas that I typically draw... leave those open for daily expression?)

chandelle~ oh I hope you can! and I can't wait to see it when you do. :)