"Keep them covered, take them out, look professional."

These are the guidelines that have been drilled in by a conservative society. Tattoos and piercings have always had a negative reputation; typically adorning people who were delinquents, outcasts, or harmful to society. We are quick to judge people who have a full sleeve or a facial piercing, but why? The generation these statements were open to was skeptical about them, but isn't that what happens with every "new" thing in a society?

In the current millennial generation, many get their first tattoo on their 18th birthday or have an ear covered with beautiful jewels or even add a simple hoop to their nose. This is more common than ever. Many parents won't allow their kids to get anything "unprofessional" until they are legal to do it themselves. This then results in young adults who go overboard, Pinteresting "ear-speration" and googling pictures of possible tattoos or drawing ones with a meaning behind them. We even started Project Semicolon - reminding those with depression that their story isn't over yet. (More info about Project Semicolon).

In our generation, tattoos and piercings are a form of self-expression. Typically piercings are something we enjoy and can decorate our body with. Tattoos generally have a special meaning behind them, in memory of a loved one or a reminder that better things are coming. Yet something that has a positive meaning in our life is frowned upon by the older generation who is currently also - you may have guessed it - our bosses. Our bosses, grandparents, and parents are the only people who truly discriminate us for a body decoration such as tattoo or piercing.

I grew up in a house where I wasn't allowed any piercings other than my first lobe until I was 18. I'm constantly searching for "ear-speration" to decide what I would like next, however, my mother is never approving — even of me getting my second holes. Being the angel my entire childhood, I was petrified when my best friend and I came home with our cartilages pierced, but I still lived to tell the tale. I warned by boyfriend before he came home with me because of his full forearm — an incredibly meaningful tattoo, which I love. For him, it's a reminder of the good days ahead along with his grandfather's initials hidden within the details.

If these "modifications" have a meaning to our lives or decorate our body the way we like, why are they still so negatively viewed by society still? They are now more common than ever and are not going away anytime soon. Our society has shown the same pattern every time "something" new comes up; gay marriage, legalizing marijuana, feminism all experienced some form of resistance. Typically, older generations are against it - whereas ours is all for something new.

So, may your body be decorated the way you want it to be, may it be a constant reminder of the ones you have lost or your motivation to keep going in life. My you cover yourself with whatever you please, because this is your life and your body and your canvas to show the world.

"I was just a big fan of tattoos always growing up, and I wanted something cool that symbolizes what I've been through in my life, and everything on my chest and my back is like a collage." - Kevin Durant