Heavy metal, or the memory of a voyage? The reasons I’ve heard for some tattoos. My family, seamen by trade, always warned me off getting one. ” If you didn’t like it the next morning, you’re stuck with it.” and, “police use them for identifying marks, they’re looking for a thief with an eagle on his arm, and you have one too.”
These were the reasons that warned me off inking my skin. But there are some other very legitimate reasons for inking. I first learned about them during one of my wanders as a Pius Itinerant. My buddy and I were wandering around a harbor area one evening, and we walked by a tattoo parlor. In the window was a sign saying, “Black Eye Work, a Specialty.” And no, this didn’t refer to tattooing the eyeballs black, that came along years later. This sign referred to what we now know as medical tattooing. Using tattoos to cover blemishes, hide scars, and the like. Maybe you know someone who had it for scar concealment, or to blend the pimentation on a skin graft.
So the next time you think about tats, expand your horizon to include the valuable work of medical tattoo practitioners.
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I did not know about Black Eye work, a true eye-opener (no pun intended).
Well, damn. I had my “ahimsa” tattoo placed on a perfectly good hunk of forearm skin a few years ago. I have three huge scars from joint replacements (2 knees, 1 elbow… 1 to go). I could have done this, instead. (Harder places to read, though.)
It’s never too late!
I never before even considered that! I love how you always come at these prompts, from a very unique perspective. I like it… hugs
I got my first tattoo in 1980 because I had no ID was on the road and just in case I ended up in pieces parts in a dumpster somewhere- I wanted there to be something they could use to identify who I was. Made perfectly good sense at the time!! And I went on to get about 10 more- so …….
Oooooh! Being on the road! I had a dream about it just a few nights ago. It wasn’t as glorious as the rear view mirror makes out. And I knew one or two women on the road, and selecting a companion for a hop of a few states was a serious choice for them; lots could go wrong that a guy would worm out of.
I have about a dozen tattoos and when I was going through my cancer surgeries, the surgeon said, “Don’t worry. The ink is intact.”
Confirming my theory that to be a surgeon, you have to have a bit of ribald sense of humor.
I have only one tattoo: what was, for part of a year, a lovely little faery on my lower abdomen. Before getting it, I grilled the tattoo artist: “I plan to get pregnant one day. Is this going to be a bad idea? Will it be ruined? Will it hurt me, the skin, the baby?” I was assured that there was not one single thing to worry about. He said the tattoo would be absolutely undamaged and the only thing he could think of was that possibly a stretch mark might cut through a line, and it would be a piece of cake to go back and add a dot to reconnect the line later.
A year later I was pregnant, and that faery soon had a humongous wingspan! It was pretty cool! My belly kept growing and growing and all the skin, weakened from being pierced, stretched. So the lines of the tattoo BECAME the stretchmarks. Wide green and black blurs now smudge the spot. I have fantasized for a long time about getting something on top and around that area, to make it look nice again. It’s still identifiable as a faery, but not pretty.
One hell of in intersting story though !
Ha ha! Indeed.
I love the way the person who wrote the prompt assumes that everyone wants a tattoo.
I have an utterly stupid and redundant tattoo on my left shoulder. No, you can’t see it. What a waste of $100
Ahhhhhh…come on, Martha! The WordPress community is dying to know!
🤣 It’s a Celtic Knot. That’s all the WP community is getting.
Soooooo touchy!
😜
I got one! Truly a beautiful reminder that ink can tell a story, cover a memory, or literally help someone feel whole again.
This was such an interesting take.
I like how you moved it from just personal expression to something that actually restores confidence and identity. That shift matters more than people realise.
In design too, I see a similar pattern. Sometimes it’s not about adding something new, but about helping a space heal, soften, or feel whole again after wear, change, or memory.
Curious, have you come across spaces or objects that carry that same kind of “restorative” value for people?
Maybe because I trained and worked as an anthropologist interested in community dynamics. I watched groups intent on creating, preserving and restoring social systems.
👍