scijessreads

Tattoos are very much one of those things that can elicit strong emotions. Honestly, growing up I never really thought about it too much, the idea of getting one, as I couldn’t imagine choosing something so permanent. I tended to love things and then eventually fall away from them. I couldn’t really do that very easily with relatively permanent ink on my skin. Also, While I loved looking at them, I was always keenly aware that in many situations visible ones could be a hindrance.

However, senior year of college (isn’t that a cliche?), I decided to finally get one. The top left image above, the Celtic knot star in a spiral design. Lower back (again, very cliche). The words below – ad astra per aspera – were added a few years later in grad school. I have always loved stars, and that phrase generally translates to “to the stars through difficulty.” I think at that point, full of youth and the fact that it was easily hidden under clothes, made me jump all in. And for a while, I thought it would be my only one.

But I guess the old adage is true, you either get one tattoo, or you get many. And about a decade later I jumped all in on the “many” train. The next one was the poppy in the wave on my right shoulder. And soon following that was the dragon ouroboros on the left (with the Capricorn constellation in the wing). A mix of what I refer to as my fandom tattoo is on my right thigh. A white tulip (Fringe), a butterfly (a common motif about change), and a leaf on the wind (Serenity).

On my left clavicle is a cat sitting in a dog paw, in an ode to my pets. And on my right forearm are a couple of newer ones. One has a mountain and water surrounded by some of the wildflowers that bloomed where I grew up. Lupine, fiddleneck, and popcorn. The other is a quote from the book “The Starless Sea,” we are all stardust and stories (with stars and an ink pen).

These probably aren’t the last of them either. I have ideas for more. A sleeve of flowers (from every state I’ve lived in), a dragon sitting on books drinking coffee (because, dragons). A Viking ship… and maybe others yet to take shape. I love the art of them. The fact is that they are moments in life that I can always keep. And even as they fade and change, they are there. Waypoints on my skin of a life lived and things loved.

Do you have any tattoos?