I guess it only took one tattoo to give everyone an excuse to think of me differently.

When I say this, I don’t really mean everyone. But, a lot of people have looked at me differently depending on what I have tattooed on my body. Tattoos, for our generation, are continuing to gain speed in their popularity race. Whether you get a small butterfly behind your ear or a half sleeve, you're now part of this growing trend.

There's still just this negativity surrounding tattoos, though. I guess it depends what you have on your skin specifically that can somehow offend someone else. I personally don’t think having a flower on my foot should be offensive to someone else (unless you really hate roses; then I guess I understand). But tattoos are mainly expressive. Tattooed individuals are walking canvases, in the sense that they can literally paint a picture of their life for everyone to see.

Sometimes I still can’t wrap my head around why a tattoo on my foot or arm would make me incapable of doing a job professionally. Most of us with tattoos now know that, in a professional setting, we should cover them up. That's just how our society is right now (even though this is starting to change a little).

Just because I have tattoos, that doesn't make me incapable of performing certain tasks. I can still work hard at a career the same way a non-tattooed individual would. We all have goals and ambitions, and what I have inked on my skin doesn’t mean anything other then that I love tattoos. Now, I know employers have reasons for not hiring some people that are tattooed. If there's something outwardly offensive shown on a very visible space, that can be a turn off to employers. Some just would rather not have them shown on their workers, and that's completely fine if that's their goal image.

It’s just one of those issues that we have to live with. I personally think that getting tattoos is normal, but that’s the generation I grew up in. If you ask my parents, they'll think differently. The majority of my family isn't tattooed; I guess you could say that I'm the “rebel” of the family (as my mom says).

Trust me, once you get one tattoo, it’s so much easier to go get that second one. For me, I went from one to four really quick (sorry, Mom). Once you have a certain mindset about body art, I guess it’s hard to break that generalization. If you don’t like tattoos, that’s completely fine. No harm, no foul. But If you're specifically judging someone at first glance because of body art, you need to take a step back and realize that that person has the same goals and aspirations as you do; to be accepted and understood.