I know topics on personal blogs aren't always that interesting, unless you are Charlie Sheen, or Oprah and follow the news and gossip. Today however I am writing a personal blog, that explains my tattoos. I always believed that I would only ever get a tattoo for something that I truly believed or was symbolic to me in some sort of way. Both tattoos were my ideas, the puzzle pieces however were drawn by someone else.
My first tattoo I got was summer of 2008. This tattoo I got at a very difficult time in my life. It is a phrase, which I felt like I lived each day, and even to this day it holds true. Of course this phrase has a double meaning. I also thought that the location, size and simplicity of the tattoo was important. This tattoo is in the middle of my upper back.
During this period in my life I was going through a lot, trying to deal with depression, stress, and a slew of other things. I felt very alone in the world, I felt that I couldn't count on anyone, even my friends and family, I felt like they had left me down. I felt that the only being I had left in this world was God. On the other hand, everything I do have is because of God, which means he embodies it all. So God is all I have.
My second tattoo I got was late Fall of '09. I actually had class that day, but I felt like the world was crumbling under me. That semester, depression had taken over again. I felt I needed a way to get out all these feelings and some how dissipate this storm with in me, with out hurting myself. I had some thoughts on my next tattoo a few months before. I thought about my feelings, life, and all the pieces that complete my life. I thought to myself, life is pretty much a puzzle. One whose pieces you must find and assemble. The first aspect I thought, was that of God. Spirituality has always been a big thing in my life, it is my hope. Today I do call myself a Christian. So not only does the cross represent God or something bigger than me, but it represents the search for my path or what God put me on this earth to do. Love and relationships were another part of the circle of life and something that is important to me. I also wanted to represent my love for this world. A heart would fulfill this idea. The next thing that was important to me is self growth and identity. Finding out who I truly am and giving that to the world, I am the only one of me. I thought of what symbols can represent identity, I thought of finger prints, but those were to small to depict in a tattoo, the next best thing was a hand print, so that would also be included on my tattoo. One thing I have often felt in my life is emptiness, it could be emptiness in relationships, jobs, life in general; it could feel as if there is something missing. I decided to draw two figures, one is a man, who is filled in, and next to him is a woman, who is not filled with color. This represents the fulfillment of that emptiness with in. It also represents man and woman, good and evil, a yin and yang sort of way. The last piece of the puzzle has the icon of a smiley face. Accomplishing or fulfill all those other things represented by the other pieces of the puzzle will lead to the piece that completes the puzzle, the ultimate goal, happiness.
Each piece actually fits perfect with all the other pieces, if they were to be cut out and put together. This tattoo covers most of my forearm.
