Tattoo #2.

One thing you all may not know about me is that I have a tattoo. For my eighteenth birthday last year my best friend, Megan, paid for my first tattoo. It was a somewhat lovely experience because we were both about to share getting our first tattoos together and I will treasure that memory always. My tattoos are not very, well, complicated, they are in fact very simple.

My first tattoo was an arrow. I got this tattoo for several reasons. Firstly, my mum is a Sagittarius whose symbol is the archer. While my mother and I are not obsessed with astrology or anything, we both do enjoy reading our horoscopes every now and again to see if they actually make any sense and sometimes we’ll laugh about how off they can be.

Secondly, I had seen a quote online which I liked and is associated with an arrow. You may have seen this quote around (photo is from Google):

These are the two main reasons behind the arrow. Furthermore, in year six (between ten and eleven years of age) I was on a residential trip in the Isle of Wright with my school. One of the activities we did was archery and I really enjoyed it. This is especially surprising coming from someone who generally hates most physical activities. Nevertheless, it’s something I wouldn’t mind trying again in the future and this tattoo also reminds me of that trip. I miss those simple days at primary school where my biggest decision was deciding what to play in the playground with my friends.

Moving on, this morning my dad took me into town to get my second tattoo. My second tattoo was of a crescent moon. Again, I have a few reasons for wanting this tattoo. The first reason was because of my interest in the universe. Despite having failed physics at A-level, I do enjoy learning about the universe, at least as far as the stars and planets and galaxies etc. are concerned. Meanwhile, I found it difficult to be interested in lenses and waves which is what the whole first year of the course was about.

My second reason for this tattoo is that it seemed somewhat fitting. This is because star signs are related to constellations so now I basically have the moon and the stars on my wrist. My dad also suggested that I should get a sun to go to the right of my moon. I like the thought of this, but I will think of it some more, I mean it took me eight months of firmly knowing exactly the moon design I wanted for me to finally get around to getting the tattoo done. However, I do also love the thought of having the sun because it reminds me of Game of Thrones  and how Drogo and Daenerys  would call each other “moon of my life” and “my sun and stars”.

My third reason for why I wanted a tattoo of the moon is that to me it is a symbol of comfort. My grandparents on my mum’s side live two and a half hours away so when we visit them the journey home is always in the dark. During these journeys in the car I always search for the moon and for some reason I always find it comforting when I can see it. The moon is constant and I see this as reassuring in a world where there is so much change. Since my very first journey home in the dark, so many things have changed, but that moon has always been there.

Now that you know the reasons I wanted my tattoos, I shall now present them to you:

I hope you like them, I certainly do. I understand that many people do not like tattoos, but please understand that I do like them and this is my body and thus it was my decision to make. They do hold meaning to me and I am aware of the fact that they are permanent, but I highly doubt that I will ever regret getting a tattoo for my mum, a huge inspiration to me, and I see the moon every night so I really doubt that I will ever tire of that.

Do you have or want any tattoos?

– Lauren