This week I had one of the most unbearable experiences of my life: I slept on the floor of the Miami International Airport floor for 12 hours. That same day, I had one of the most surprisingly bearable experiences.
Since my 18th birthday 2 weeks ago, I have been talking about getting a tattoo. Naturally, everyone warned me that it was painful and that I should start off with something simple in order to get an idea of how the process worked. I said "screw that."
My stupid, broke, low pain-tolerance self decided to get a thigh piece the size of a newspaper cover. My theory was that if I'm going to live with something for so long, it would be something I wanted, not some bullshit tattoo that I got for experience. So I asked everyone I knew what places and artists they liked, and I researched.
For those who don't have tattoos: always research your artist based off of the style you want done. Different artists have different specialties. I was looking for an artist who was able to do portraits in black and white. I came across a lot of good people, but most of them had short-comings in their line-work and I was going to be getting a fairly detailed tattoo. So I settled on a person, met up with him to discuss the piece to be sure he was confident in his own ability to do it, and left with an appointment card and settling nerves.
A week later, my doubtful friend and I walked into Addicted To Ink in White Plains, NY after a very long day and met up with my artist. After basic prep, I was laying down on a table, waiting to get stabbed. Everyone's voices were going through my head "It's going to hurt a lot!", "You won't be able to handle that much!", and "It's not a walk in the park..."
They were right, it was absolutely not a walk in the park, it was more like a marathon in the park and I hadn't stretched at all. As soon as the needle hit my thigh I realized "Hey, I really hate running." But I was also kind of disappointed. I had been told for so long that a tattoo would be one of the hardest things to actually sit through getting, but I sat through a four hour session without regretting a thing.
That's not to say it would be the same for everyone, because obviously people have different pain tolerances.
My main point, though, is don't listen to everyone else. Only you know the kinds of pain you can handle. Getting yourself a tattoo is something that is all about you. It will hurt, in some places more than others, but if you know how to cope with pain you'll always be fine.
Make sure you know when to take breaks. Don't lie about getting dizzy, and if you can't handle it there's no reason to force yourself through it. Always keep your own well-being as your top priority, especially when it comes to tattoos. But also keep in mind that it's not always as traumatizing as everyone tells you it is!
