From the moment I turned about 16, I remember being fascinated with tattoos. And for as long as I could remember, I would tell my mom that I was going to get a sun and moon tattoo for my grandparents.

So, on my 20th birthday, when I told my parents I was getting an umbrella and lyrics “This will pass like the weather” from the song "Honey" by Moose Blood on my thigh, needless to say, they were taken off guard. They didn’t try to talk me out of it. (Not that they could have anyway.) Instead, my mom called up her guy to set up a consultation. And a week later, I came home with my new tattoo.

I was lying on my couch in my living room not so long ago. I rolled over onto my side and for the first time, my tattoo caught my attention. For a while, I just laid there and stared at it until it finally hit me that wow, this is on me forever.

Now I know what you’re probably thinking “well duh, it’s a tattoo.” But this is my first tattoo, after all, and it’s not at all what my family or even my friends expected me to get. But it is something that means a lot to me.

Now I’ve been asked, “Aren’t you going to regret that band tattoo when you’re older?” and “What if you stop listening to them?”

I didn't get this tattoo just because I love Moose Blood. It’s about the period in my life when I really connected to their music. The lyrics “this will pass like the weather” is a reminder to myself that nothing is static. The same way weather is always changing, we as humans are always evolving. It commemorates a period in my life of immense personal growth and a time where I decided that I was going to put me first for a change.

I’m not going to regret my tattoo. I’ve always wondered why people are so quick to judge not only band tattoos, but tattoos in general, when they can’t pinpoint the deeper meaning behind them. Even if I decided on what to get just based off of what I thought it looked cool, it doesn’t concern you. I got my tattoo for me, not for you.