From a very young age, I was fascinated with tattoos. The idea of a permanent picture with some type of meaning on your body fascinated me. When I was 14 years old, my dad took me with him when he went to get his fourth tattoo. Watching the artist put the Celtic trinity knot on my dads arm made me so happy, and only cemented my longing for one of my own.

I very carefully thought out my first tattoo. I wanted something with symbolism to it, that only I would understand. I finally came up with the idea of three hearts linked together on my wrist, each to represent the three most important parts of my life. I came up with this idea when I was 15-years-old, and four days before my 18th birthday, I finally got it. And it was honestly a spiritual experience for me. I have never felt so peaceful and one with myself, but in the five minutes my tattoo took, I fell madly in love with tattoos. Within a month, I had two more tattoos. For my high school graduation, I pampered myself and got a huge one on my inner bicep. For my 19th birthday, I used my birthday money to get two more tattoos. Every tattoo I have has some kind of meaning to me. The pawprint on my left thigh was the paw print of my childhood cat who passed away my junior year of high school. My inner bicep is something from one of my favorite book series'.

I'm not explaining my tattoos in an article because I owe people who are against tattoos any explanation for my love for them. I'm explaining my tattoos because people who are against tattoo's don't seem to care about the meaning they have.

I am told constantly, mostly by people I love dearly, how irresponsible I am for getting tattoo's. I'm told there is no reason for me to have them. I'm told having six (with a seventh on the horizon) at 19 is excessive and I need to "slow down." But here's the thing:

I don't really care what others think about my decisions with my body.

No, seriously, I don't. I don't get my tattoo's to please anyone but myself. I get tattoo's because I like them, and they mean something to me.I get tattoo's because they have greatly increased my body image, and my self confidence, making me feel more confident in speaking my mind.

The choices I make with my body don't concern anyone but me. Tattoo's are not negative, they do not effect who I am as a person, they make me who I am as a person. They are a part of who I am and they are a part of myself and they are a part that will never be changed or given up. I refuse to live in a box created by an unnecessary stigma against body art and self expression in its most pure and true form. It's no one's job to place me in a box.

You don't have to be okay with that. But you do have to get over it and let me live my life the way I want to without believing it is your place to tell me how I am wrong.

So yes, I have tattoo's. Yes, I'm proud of them, and confident in them. And that is all that matters.