In today’s society, it is not an unusual thing for people to have tattoos, but unfortunately, not everyone has them and not everyone likes them. Those people who don’t like them look down on the people who have them and many times they make snarky comments and they disrespect those with tattoos. Many of the people who have tattoos have them for a reason and they have a story behind every tattoo they have. It is not just some random thing they saw hanging up somewhere, although for some people this is true, but…. WHO CARES! Tattoos are a way for people to express themselves. Some people see their bodies as a canvas that needs to be painted!
I currently have three tattoos. I got my first one when I was 17 and yes it has a meaning. All of my tattoos have stories behind them and unfortunately some people still look down on me and hate me for them. They always tell me I will regret it in the future and honestly that is not true. Before I got all of mine, I thought long and hard about whether I wanted them or not and although I had people telling me not to get them, I disagreed and did it anyways. I honestly didn’t care what those people were telling me. I knew I wanted to get these tattoos because they represented an important part of my life.
My first tattoo I got on my shoulder blade and it said “the galaxy” and had a planet and stars with it. This tattoo was part of a friendship tattoo with two of my friends and it represented the relationship we had with each other. As a whole it read “To Infinity and Beyond the Galaxy.” This is exactly what we did for each other, if one of us needed something we would honestly go to infinity and beyond to get them what they needed. Before getting this tattoo I had many people saying what if you guys don’t stay friends and what if you drift apart. At the time and still to this day I didn’t care if we drifted apart because I knew even if we did drift apart we were all still connected in some unique way.
My second tattoo I also got at the age of 17 and it was a musical treble clef intertwined with a cross. I had it put on my wrist and I didn’t care if it would be hard to cover. Music and faith are two things that I am very passionate about and I wanted it somewhere where I could always see it and somewhere where others could always see it. Just like my first tattoo, my second had a matching partner. This matching partner just so happened to be my mom. When I got it she went with me and as soon as I got done she sat down and said she wanted the same one. I was shocked and so surprised at the time but I remember her saying that whatever I was passionate about then she was also passionate about and she wanted to be connected in some way.
My third tattoo I just got in June and just like my others it had matching partners. My two cousins and I decided we wanted to get a tattoo together that represented the ones we loved who have passed from cancer and for the ones still living. The tattoo is on my back between my shoulder blades and it is in the shape of a heart but the right side is the breast cancer ribbon that represents our grandmother whom we never met and who was the inspiration for my first article on the "Odyssey." This tattoo means the world to me and if I could go back and change my mind I definitely wouldn’t.
All of my tattoos have a very important meaning behind them and I love them. I didn’t care about all the hate I was getting from others I just knew I wanted these tattoos that represented important moments in my life. If any of you are thinking about getting a meaningful tattoo or just any tattoo, but you aren’t sure because are hating on you, do it anyways. You honestly could be doing worse things and not only that, it is your body and you can paint it as much as you want!
