Getting My First Tattoo

My body is my journal, and my tattoos are my story.
Johnny Depp

Well, here we are. I’ve finally done it. The pain is over. I never previously envisaged a day where I’d have an actual tattoo on my body, but then again things change. Priorities shift. Life has a funny way of throwing things our way that alter perspective and outlook. And naturally the experiences we have directly correlate with the decisions we make.

While for a good few months I have considered (I stress considered) the idea of having a tattoo done, I don’t mind admitting that I’ve shied away from booking an appointment through fear of pain, embarrassment or humiliation. Plus with a tattoo being a VERY permanent procedure, I had to be sure of what I wanted. And as people who know me personally know, I’m chronically indecisive. Making choices, especially tough ones, is definitely not a strength of mine. Not by a long chalk. In order for me to bite the bullet and pluck up the courage to book an appointment and go ahead with it, I had to select a design that had genuine meaning. And something I wouldn’t regret down the line in a few years.

I do acknowledge that lasering or covering is an option should I make a mistake, however, I’d rather not go through such an arduous and costly process. Apparently, it’s even more painful than having a tattoo as well!

After much deliberation, in addition to my research viewing similar tattoos, I decided upon a semi-colon accompanied with the message ‘This too shall pass’. While the semi-colon was predominantly what I wanted, I also realised that a quote alongside it would give it more personal, motivational and inspirational meaning. And this is the one that stood out the most. Plenty of others were also good and appealed to me, nevertheless, this was my clear favourite.

Throughout the tough moments, the times I struggled to cope, and the times I thought I couldn’t continue, I’ve tried to grasp onto the fact that things will get better. That not every aspect of life is dark, gloomy and whole-heartedly negative. That there is a light end of the tunnel, however small, should I work hard enough to find it. Persistence and belief are absolutely vital. After all everything worth waiting for takes time and I’ve learned that sometimes you just have to ride the wave. As corny and cliche as that probably sounds!

Taking all that into consideration, ‘this too shall pass’ seemed like the perfect sentiment and message. No matter how low I’m feeling and how terrible I’m coping, it’s nice to know that I have a little reminder on my body that I’ll battle through and make a better life for myself. While big lavish gestures are great, more often than not it’s the small things you can hold onto most! In this case just four small words and a punctuation mark…..

Should anybody reading this be considering getting a similar tattoo, I’d definitely recommend it. Not only would you be creating your very own consistent motivational tool, but you’d also be shining a spotlight on the incredible semi-colon project, the huge amount of people around the globe suffering with mental health problems every day and raising awareness of suicide. The more of us that do this the better!

P.S Check out the brilliant semi-colon project via the link below: