I do this for myself

"Why do you do that?" It's something I have heard a lot when I show people my tattoos. It's also something I often see in their eyes when I show them pictures of a new design or motivational quote which I am thinking of having permanently placed on my body.
Tattoos are highly personal things. They tell the tales of our lives in ways which we feel best express the joy and pain we have experienced. At least that is what they are for me. My tattoos betray my feelings of inadequacy, my pain, my suffering and my experiences. They remind me constantly that I have lived and that I must continue to live the best life I can. They let me know that I am not perfect and that is ok. They serve as reminders of the times I had to be stronger than I wanted to be. They are a catalogue of my life experiences - my beautiful, imperfect, mistake-riddled life. They are mine and no-one else’s. And in a world where so much is copied and duplicated that is priceless. Now I know many people will say bollocks - anyone can copy your tattoo and that's true. What they cannot copy is the experience which led to me taking the decision to have something inked onto my skin. Those experiences and how I interpret them are mine alone and tattoos are the way I choose to celebrate them.

I am a typophile, which means I love words and find not only the meaning in a profound statement beautiful but also love the aesthetic of lettering and fonts.
Some people think I am stupid to have some of the things I have tattooed on my body. Why do I need to look at my forearm to remember to smile, breathe ... be happy? There is a meaning there which is impossible for me to simply explain to someone. There is an attachment to those three words and the three little dots which separate them that is so deep - so pressed into my psyche that the only way I can express it is by pressing it into my flesh.
Granted not all my tattoos have the same kind of meaning. Some of them just looked good to me and at least one of them is incomplete - imperfect and needs to be added to over time. I kind of like that. It's a metaphor for me and my growth and development. Where I was a year or two ago is not where I am now. I continue to grow and evolve. I continue to change in an attempt to find myself.
I make no apologies for my tattoos. I only ask that you don't judge me because of them. They are my choices. They represent the mistakes I have made but also the joy which life has brought to me. When I am old I will tell my grandkids all the stories which go with them. And in the same way a tattooist is an artist using my flesh to exhibit their art I am a story teller and my tattoos are the bookmarks of my life which reference the best stories I have to tell. They are the answer to the question: "Where do you come from?"

DISCLAIMER: If you ask nicely I will update this on Wednesday with pictures of my new tattoo.