See, they are starting out young. But, Marvin is right. A great reason to get a tattoo is to express your own personal statement. But, figure out what your personal statement is, first. I wouldn’t suggest you get a chef’s hat tattoo and then discover you can’t boil an egg or worse, getting a ‘Thug Life’ tattooed on your stomach when you grow up on a farm in Wisconsin.
My personal statement at the time of my first tattoo was to continue to be the kind of person who was always up for trying new things and having new experiences. I was on a journey to have experiences that altered and heightened my consciousness. I read a book in college by Andrew Weil called The Marriage of the Sun and the Moon. If you haven’t read it, check it out. Some people use drugs and alcohol, some use coffee. There are guys in the mountains of Mexico who eat hot peppers to capture that high, if even for a minute. Andrew’s journey to find the ultimate state took him to the mountains of South America where he witness an eclipse; a marriage of the sun and the moon. That image was my first tattoo.
To a certain extent it is still my personal statement. It is why I love to write, why I love to travel, why I love food and why I love getting tattooed. These are experiences that alter my consciousness and are safer then drugs and alcohol.
What is your personal statement? Do you think it is tattoo worthy?
Spoiler alert, they hurt and they don’t wash off, so you better be sure.
If you have a great tattoo story you want to share, let me know and I will feature it on Tattoo Tuesday.
Sydney Aaliyah Michelle 
My personal statement is the number 27. I was born on that day, and for some reason, that number keeps popping up in my life- usually with a good event.
In any case, I’ve always wanted a tattoo of it but perhaps not badly enough. After all, I’ve had the time, chance, and age to do it, yet I haven’t. Some day. Maybe.
A. Tell
A. Thanks for the comment. I have seen some really beautiful script tattoos and the number 27 would be perfect. I would love for everyone to get a tattoo and get out of it what I do, but it is a personal choice. The only person I have been actively trying to convince to get a tattoo is my mother. I think it would be cool to get one with her and she would be one bad ass 68 year old. HAHA.
As a teenager, I really wanted a tattoo. Luckily, friends who had them advised me against having the rose I so wanted. Years later, a friend was staying and I noticed she had the rose tattoo on her shoulder. The moment I saw it, I was so pleased I had been dissuaded from having one years previous. My ex sister in law commented on tattoos – esp the ones on the lower back – “think of how it will look when you have to have your bum wiped in the old people’s home!” They may be a great way to make a statement today but you change as you grow older and that statement may not be so apt in years to come.
I am no strait laced old maid I hasten to add..I am me… I am pleased and proud to be me. I wear odd earrings in each of the two piercings per ear and when I want to make a statement .. I dye my hair a whacky colour or bleach the colour completely out. It serves the purpose, makes the statement for that time and is completely reversible. For me thats a happy compromise and keeps the element of surprise & a bit of mystery.
I can respect that. My tattoos are more of a history of my life that every time I look at them or think about them, it takes me back. When I am old and having someone wiping my butt in the old folkes home, at least we might have something interesting to talk about.
“or worse, getting a ‘Thug Life’ tattooed on your stomach when you grow up on a farm in Wisconsin.”
You, ma’am, owe me a swig of caramel latte that I just spit out after reading that line.
I agree with this, though. I got two nautical stars on my chest a couple years ago, reminding me to “find my way.” The piece I want to get is about $1,300 — perhaps I will get it some day, but if it has waited this long, perhaps I don’t need it after all…
-A.M.
Then my work here is done. haha. The visual of that one is priceless. Nautical stars are cool. I am partial to stars. I have several. I am thinking about a post about the cost of tattoos. Not something you want to bargain shop for.
Continue your latte, I will try and refrain from being funny for the rest of the day.
I love tattoos, but waited until my forties to make sure I got something with personal meaning. I will get another one soon. Thanks for the great post!
Thank you for stopping by. I love them, too. Thanks for following, too. I really appreciate it. Tattoo Tuesday is going to be fun.
I have six tattoos. All of my tattoos mean something special to me. Most of them were though out and not a result of a drunken Saturday (which inevitably happens in college towns). After I lost my step father, I got a tattoo of something he said to me before he died. After two years I got it covered up with something beautiful because I realized that the tattoo I got was representing a negative time in my life, rather than something hopeful. Tattoos are great, but sometimes you have to really understand your intentions.
Hi Whitney, I have heard stories about drunken tattoo decisions and seen a couple in person and I feel bad for those people for not getting to experience the tattoo. For me, it isn’t all about the end result, it is about the process. Picking an artist you trust, creating something that is meaningful to you and then committing to put it on your skin for life. You miss out on all that if under the influence. Get the tattoo and then celebrate and get drunk later.
Memorial tattoos are great, but I agree with you about making sure it is a positive connotation.
I am also getting some great ideas about future post from everyone. I am curious about the cover up because I want to get my first tattoo covered up just because it isn’t the best quality. Do you have a favorite tattoo?
I agree. You can tell the difference between people who take a tattoo seriously and those that come in spur of the moment.
The one on my back is my favorite. It is a lotus flower with an ohm symbol in the middle. It’s very important to me and represents a lot of my beliefs.
The tattoo I got covered up was of black script, so it wasn’t the easiest to cover. The tattoo artist I was working with ( an extremely talented lady) had been working with ways to cover up script. She basically free handed the tattoo and it came out beautifully.
That’s awesome. Lotus are kind of my thing. I have 4 of them tattoo’ed on me. The one I want covered has faded a lot, it is about 10 years old, so I hope it will be easy to cover up. My favorite is on my ankle. Chinese bull holding bamboo three pieces of bamboo that symbolize the people I came to China with. It was free handed from a stuffed animal and just makes me smile every time I look at it.
I love lotus flowers too! They are so beautiful. I bet they can cover up your tattoo or make it even better. Your bull tattoo sounds so cool! I love tattoos that are unique like that.
I’m an artist, so when I decided to get a tattoo at the RIPE OLD AGE OF EIGHTEEN (scoff scoff giggle) I decided it would only be something I’d designed and drawn myself. That was really important to me–I didn’t want to feature someone else’s art on my own body. I mean, I established a great relationship with my tattoo artist, but I made it clear that I wanted the art to go on the way I had designed it. He kept wanting to change it but I held fast; once he put it on, he was like, “Wow. You’re right. Your design was perfect for this spot.”
I got a lower back tattoo since all the girls said that was the one spot on a woman’s body that wouldn’t stretch and sag with time as much as the rest. My design included two dragons with some seriously fierce horns, facing one another, with curling lower bodies like seahorses and droplet shaped wings like butterflies. It wasn’t something with a real… “personal statement,” I guess. It didn’t embody ME. But I’ve loved dragons since I was a toddler, and they are my connection with fantasy and magic–always the subject of my art and later, my novels.
Plus, it’s on my back, so I rarely have to see it. That’s sort of my new requirement for a tattoo. That way, when you DO see it in a mirror, you feel a burst of pleasure.
I love dragons, too. That is going to be my next tattoo. Since I can’t draw, I am more then happy to have someones art that move me on my body. My tattoo artist freehanded my bull tattoo and the flowers on my lower back. I try and design something, like the lotus that is all over my site, but then I take to him to perfect it. After my first two on my back, I wanted one that I can see with my own two eyes, not just the reflection. But, I do still get a little thrill when I see them in a mirror.
I got my first tattoo when I turned 50…I figured I was old enough to decide by then 🙂 and my daughter got one at the same time for her 21st birthday. I got a ladybug sitting on a 4 leaf clover. The ladybug also has a heart on her back. It represents a health issue that I overcame but I get tired of people always aksing what does it mean? Can’t I just get a tattoo because I like it? Does it always have to ‘mean’ something? I got it on my wrist because I waited so long to finally get a tat (since I was a teenager) that I wanted to be able to see it whenever I wanted.
That is so great that you and your daughter got it together. I want my mom to get one with me. That is the thing with tattoos on spots that you can’t cover up, the public feels entitled to the story. Just because my tattoo is in a visible place doesn’t mean it is any less personal. You could always make up a story.