Ouch! Tattoo Story

Hello darlings! Sharing something a little bit more personal today. I got my first and only tattoo in September. After I came home from the gym, I told my roommates about my idea of getting a tattoo and just never knew when I was going to get it. They joked and said, “Why not now?” I took them literally and later that night I got a tattoo at Lark Tattoo in Albany. Don’t think I was being spontaneous because in reality I wasn’t. I’ve wanted this tattoo since senior of high school. It means a lot to me.

What it means: The quote of my tattoo is technically, “At 211 degrees, water is hot. At 212 degrees, water boils. One extra degree of effort can separate the good from the great” but my tattoo means a little bit more than that to me. I’m a very persistent person. I like things neat. I like things done right. I try my hardest at everything. That means relationships, work, exercise, you name it. I don’t believe in short cuts. I think it’s cheating. In order to feel accomplished in something, you need to know that you worked your absolute hardest. If I hand something in to a teacher and know that it isn’t my absolute best work then I think it was a waste of time. In order to feel accomplished, do your best at everything. If something goes horribly wrong at least you’re not questioning yourself if you could have done better on it. So, yeah, thats what my tattoo means to me. Sure I got it at an awkward time, but I knew I wanted it.

Picking a place: Originally I wanted it on my ribs, but I changed my mind because I thought about when I’m older and down the line if I either get fat or have kids it will most likely stretch out and then I would hate the way it looks.

What it feels like: Most people are scared of the needles and think it is going to hurt. It might just be because my tattoo is very small, but my tattoo did not hurt at all. It felt like putting three index cards together and scratching yourself. In a weird and almost alarming way it was comforting. My tattoo artist was also British so he kept joking with me and asking why I couldn’t just get 100° (the temperature water boils in celsius). Also his daugher’s due date was on my birthday so that is super duper awesome. Once the tattoo is healed it feels like regular skin unless if scars which then it feels bumpy. Lucky for me, mine did not scar (yet again because it’s very tiny and I had a great tattoo artist).

If you’re thinking about getting a tattoo I do recommend thinking about it. It will be on your body for the rest of your life. I recommend getting it when you know you’re done growing. Personally, I don’t think teenagers (who are still growing) should get it because you are still growing and you might change your mind. When you get a tattoo, the artist will draw it out for you multiple times and place it on your body multiple times. Make sure you like every single part of it. Don’t be worried about telling the artist that you want to fix something or you want it lower or higher. It’s your body and it will be on your body for the rest of your life. Think about it.

Join the discussion: What do you think about tattoos?

As always,