I love tattoos, I will always love tattoos. To me, they are many things, but at least partially a roadmap to where I've been in life. All my tattoos represent something, but there is no "big picture" and theme to them. Like many tattooed individuals it's not just the art that we like (though it is certainly party of it) -we're also making a statement.
My first tattoo was a Union Jack on my right calf. As many of my friends know I was adopted and I have an Irish last name even though I am not Irish. When I met my biological family I found out I was virtually one hundred percent English. To celebrate my heritage I decided to get the Union Jack tattooed in a very visible place. It was my first, and to this day it's one I'm most proud of. That tattoo was a victory celebration for me and the culmination of twenty six years of wondering. It taught me that I can take something "negative" and turn it into a positive. While adoption is certainly not a negative growing up in the 1990's in a devoutly religious school/environment you were looked down on slightly as defective in some way.
Tattoos also taught me that a bit of temporary pain is worth it in the long run. Tattoos hurt, that's a fact. Some hurt less than others. Like the motivation posters say though-pain is temporary. I have a nautical star tattooed on my left arm. For some reason, the pain was absolutely horrific for such a small tattoo. The artist who did it was outstanding, he's done several others on me but none hurt as bad as this one. I almost tapped out. I didn't though, and now I have a great tattoo on my arm that matches one I have on my right arm. If I tapped out I wouldn't have that. Life is the same way. If you quit at the slightest difficult time in life and can't go through the pain-you'll never succeed and worse, you will never be happy..
Another tattoo I have is a skull and crossbones on my left leg. While getting it there was a guy in the next room over getting something done on his arm. He was really struggling and obviously in a lot of pain. When I saw him afterwards he looked a former football player. Very big, strong looking and someone who could easily shot put me 40 yards to my death. I was stunned he was acting like such a baby during the tattoo. Seeing my surprise, my artist whispered to me "It's always the big dudes who can't handle the pain and the little guys who sit like rocks." That's true too. In life you generally don't have to worry about the bullies and the posturing jerks who talk about about how wonderful they are. It's the people who downplay their own skills and abilities who usually get the job done.
Finally, tattoos taught me about diversity and individuality. And not the kind that your delusional Bernie Sanders supporter cousin thinks is "cool". I have the Atari logo tattooed on my right shoulder. It's a symbol of my first love (video games) and I also had a dog named Atari who passed away. Some might look at it as geeky or nerdish (and it is!) but it means a lot to me. It's the same with your tattoo. Your father might love bowling and you might get a bowling pin or someone bowling on your body to honor him. What is a weird and boring hobby to you might mean the world to someone else.
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