Ever since I was a little kid, I have been enthralled by tattoos. I have always loved the idea of using one's body as a canvas to express themselves. I always knew that I would get a tattoo once I was able to, once I turned 18. So I did, and I chose a funny tattoo with some meaning behind it (a pair of scissors "cutting" my conjoined toes). Because everyone said that if you're going to get a tattoo, it needs to have a meaning behind it.

Once I got my first tattoo I did not want to stop. Maybe if I had felt a little pain during my first tattoo session I would have been turned away from getting another tattoo, but this was not the case (and to be honest I probably would have gotten more anyways).

I soon found myself back in one of my hometown's local tattoo parlors getting another small tattoo with even more significant meaning than my first one (a semicolon to represent my mental health journey). And of course, this made me want more tattoos even more so.

My first two tattoos were only months apart, and of course, I have other ideas in my head for tattoos with meaning and significance in my life, but I also have been toying with the idea that unfortunately many find unorthodox when it comes to tattoos.

I have been considering getting a tattoo that I simply find pretty that would look good on me.

Because I believe that as long as a tattoo is not offensive and culturally aware, one should be able to get a tattoo they simply think is good-looking. Be that flowers, plants, a quote, or anything else under the sun, one should not have to come up with an explanation as to why they got a certain tattoo.

I have overheard conversations in which someone with a tattoo is bombarded with questions about the significance of their tattoo, and they do not have an adequate answer for the person asking. And a long heated discussion ensues about the permanence of the tattoo (newsflash: people who get tattoos are aware that they are permanent), how they'll need to like it later in life (surprise! they know that too), and how hopefully they can still get a job.

Although many of these statements are made when anyone says they have a tattoo regardless of if they have a meaning behind it or not, it seems that those people who do not have a reason for getting their tattoo are attacked more for something they thought was beautiful.

Is thinking that something is attractive not enough for a reason? How about a tattoo that brings that person joy? Why is that not enough? Tattoos are meant to make one happy, and there is no need for a significant reason if it does just that.