Tattoos are being accepted more and more by society every day. It has even become a trend among the youth as they are seen as “cool”. For the older generation, tattoos are more seen as rebellious than cool. For others, it is an art. It is a way of expressing themselves, making a statement, emit a feeling through an image by a needle and its ink.

I never really thought of getting a tattoo, but I always thought that if I ever got one, it would be an anchor. Almost every summer, for as long as I can remember, I have gone to Brittany, the French upper West coast, for summer vacation. My grandparents, on both sides of the family, own vacation houses there, next to the beach. I used to go fishing sometimes on the docks, go hunting for specific yellow seashells for my Grandma’s collection to make necklaces or bracelets, go fishing or take a trip on my grandpa’s sailing boat, go pull up nets from the ocean with my great uncle first light in the summer mornings, go dig up solens in the sand, have big family reunions, the neighbor who would give us chocolate. For me, all these amazing memories are defined by an anchor.

Knowing that I had the possibility to choose any tattoo, or even create one out of my imagination, I chose an anchor because some of my best childhood memories are fundamentally based on this symbol.

You can base it off anything you like. Imagination has no limit.

Almost every tattoo has a meaning behind it, whether it is for something they love or someone they care about, living or away, something they appreciate. Not all tattoos have positive meanings. Some of them can be very dark and profound. As for the rest, they may not even have a meaning at all.

Tattoos are a way of conveying anything you would like.

They convey stories.

They tell stories.

They tell every individual’s story.

Tattoos can be anything you want, it all depends on how you interpret them.

Having the freedom to choose the way to tell a story, your story, is empowering. The control over your story, your life, then inscribing it on your skin, is a complete freedom.

You can let your imagination wonder and connect it back to your story, and then your body.

Even if many people see tattoos as repulsive or unpleasant to the eye, tattooing is an art. It communicates emotion just as paintings and music do.

Maybe, someday, I’ll find the freedom of writing my story on my body.

I’ll have art on my body.