Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | guess what i "up and did" today!?

i went and got 2 tattoos today.

i have been planning on getting the one and toying with the other for months. i was driving down the road with nothing much to do and i thought "hey- i'm going to go get that tattoo. so i drove to the one place (where my brother got his) and they weren't open, so i drove down to Baltimore to another shop where Angela's brother has gotten some tattoos. well, i'm glad i did! they were really fantastic.

what did i get, you ask? well i'll tell you. i got an Om on the inside of my right wrist and (kinda hokey but) i got a small ladybug on my left shoulder, on the back.

what possessed me? well, i think some tattoos are beautiful, though i'm not a fan of the whole-body stuff and lots of tattoos are terrible in my opinion, but anyway i do have a love of art and i think tattoos are a very interesting form of art.

i have a tattoo already- i got it back in '92 or '93 (in my early 20s). it's Pepe le Pew and he's on my stomach, believe it or not. i LOVE Pepe le Pew. LOVE HIM.

anyway, back to today. so i was thinking "i'll get the Om." and then when i walked in i decided on a whim to get the one on my shoulder, too.

the Om has such lovely spiritual meaning, representing God and self and past/present/future in addition to other things. it's also got a 3 theme, and that's my favorite number and it has a lot of meaning and reverence for me. so i've known i wanted this tattoo for quite a while. i wanted it there on my wrist (though i have long been against the idea of visible tattoos on myself) to remind me of my spirituality and the need to tie past, present and future and the internal and external worlds. i figured it's a good reminder when i reach out for something...

so then i got the ladybug because ladybugs are lucky. and i thought- life is good and we make our own luck so i want a reminder of that. so i have a ladybug now. she has 6 dots and 3 legs. see the 3s (and multiples thereof)!?!?! so now i literally have lady luck behind me. hokey? so what. i love it!

will i get another? yes. they are totally addictive, which is ironically why i waited so long to get another. i was afraid i'd be unstoppable! well, i have a personal goal and when i reach it i will put something on my lower back. i had originally wanted something celtic, but today i saw a gorgeous tattoo of 2 orange and gold koi swimming in the Pisces fashion. it also reminds me of the yin-yang symbol AND has a lot of Buddhist "luck" connotations. so i think that's what i'll get.

after that...? probably that will be the end, though if i marry someone who is "into" that sort of thing i could see getting a small small little something somewhere to commemorate the marriage.

hmm... never knew i was "tattooed trailer trash" didja!? (that's what my mother calls all 3 of us kids 'cause we're all tattooed)

anyway, what it all boils down to is this: i have been through so much in the last few years (in addition to the IBS and the fibro which are much more recent, i was also raped about a year and a half ago) and have really really grown as a person. i have earned this, in my opinion. i also had a huge need to do this today to remind myself that pain is temporary and fleeting but always leaves a mark. that's important in a lot of ways but especially poignant for me right now coming out of this time of my life and now having this pain-oriented illness.

anyway, i guess i was just in a transformative, permanent commemoration type of mood. the time was right and i went for it!

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