Thursday, April 22, 2010

A Bit About Me-My Tattoo


First, I want to mention that today's post has been inspired by Justine Dell. She's been sharing her stories behind her tattoos and I thought I would do the same.

Second, this is another possible template I may go with. Let's call yesterday's the Blue Theme, and today's is the Bubble Theme. I know that the background is black, but it seemed a bit more subdued and I thought perhaps it might be easier to read because of that. I've got a few more templates that I'll be trying out for a few more days, so make sure you keep checking in to vote in the poll.

Now...on with the post!

That pretty little thing you see above has quite the story behind it. I was in college at the time and let me just say that college is when I rebelled the most. I didn't really rebel like most teens rebel, but it was enough for me to classify that time of my life as rebellion. Throughout my entire childhood and early teen years, I was definitely a goody-two-shoes. I never did anything to make my parents worry one bit and I always put everyone ahead of me. Well, when I started my second semester of college, I started hanging out with a different kind of crowd-the Theater crowd.

There's a lot of different sorts in the theater crowd and I was struggling to belong. I changed a lot about myself to fit in in those days. And I fell head over heals for a tall, dark, and handsome Italian boy who wore chains, band t-shirts, and deliciously baggy pants. To please him, I started wearing tight pleather, spiked collars, and a host of other punk related apparel. Well, we dated for a few months and I fell in love. And then he cheated on me, so I dumped him. It was heartbreaking, but the next few weeks were utter hell.

Apparently (and unbeknownst to me), I had developed quite a following while dating this bad boy. Boys who I thought were just my friends started piling around me like ants on a candy bar. One of them even broke up with his girlfriend of four years who he was going to propose to, just to ask me out. I felt like a schmuck. I didn't even want to go to school anymore because I felt like I had to perform and pretend I liked these people more than I did.

So one day, I decided I was going to get that tattoo I had been thinking about for years because it was something I wanted--it was just for me. I hadn't decided what exactly I wanted, but I knew I wanted it to mean something. I'm not one of those people who can just show up at a tattoo parlor and pick a picture off the wall.

My parents were completely against it. Yes, I was nineteen, but I still cared what they thought. I had been raised in a conservative Christian household and they just couldn't see why I would want to defile my body like that. So, I prayed about it and got an answer I wasn't quite expecting. I decided to go with the inscription around the ring in The Lord of the Rings, with one change. Instead of one ring, it says one God. Now, when I explain that to people, I tend to get looks like I'm crazy. But I was going through a lot of stuff during this time in my life and I really felt like I was being attacked. This inscription is a reminder that God is in charge of everything, and even those who attack me have to answer to Him some day.

For those who don't know what the inscription says: One God to rule them all, one God to find them, one God to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.

How about you? Any stories behind your skin art?

~Emily White





9 comments:

  1. First of all, the white on black isn't difficult to read, but it would be even easier if the font were a tad bigger :) Intersting tattoo story! I like how you changed it up. But omigosh that had to hurt!

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  2. Wow, that's amazing. It looks incredibly beautiful. And I loved how you changed it to God. Very unique! I don't have tattoos so I can't share any stories, but this was fun to read.

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  3. That's actually a really beautiful qhote. No tattoos for me (yet) Maybe some day though!

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  4. How cool that you changed the LOTRs inscription to your own personal slant!

    I've wanted a tattoo for years but never had the guts to go through it with. I'm scared of pain. And regretting the mark on my body. Have you ever had any qualms about that, where you wish you hadn't done it?

    Oh, and this blog template isn't hard on the eyes at all. I found yesterdays a bit of a strain but I like this one.

    Jai

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  5. Love the quote and I think that is quite the story to go with the ink art! I'm not brave enough nor do I love something so much to have it etched in my skin, but I love those who do!!!

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  6. I love your tattoo! And the inscription... :D

    I have three tattoos. A wolf, because I absolutely love wolves. No story behind that one. The other two have stories...

    A Celtic knotwork, because I am Scottish and very proud of my heritage. And Chinese symbols for Strength, Honor and Truth on my back. I share that tattoo with my best friend of 20 years. Most of her family has the tattoo, we call it the Family Tattoo. So I am part of her family.

    Great post!

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  7. "Bubble Girl" is a bit easier to read than "BLUE!!".
    Awesome how the quote reads with God instead of ring; it works well, and it's a nice piece of art.
    I don't have any ink yet, but it's just because I haven't had the money that I could justify spending on non-essentials.
    However, it's been designed for years (I long ago decided that if it was going to be on my body for the rest of my life, it was going to be my design). I'm a proud comic book geek, and designed a variation on the Superman and Batman logos as they appeared in the 1940's.

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  8. That tattoo is lovely, Em. How did you get the translation for God into Tolkien script? I've considered getting a tattoo from time to time, but I don't know what I'd want to see forever and where I'd want it. Having something written in elvish is a neat idea.

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  9. Jaleh-Tolkien actually put his alphabet in the appendix. And if you ever decide what you want, let me know! I LOVE watching people get tattoos. :D

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