So, it had been a little while since my Cherry Blossom Tree back tattoo and I was itching to get another tattoo (this seems to happen more and more for me), so my brain had been busy at work trying to come up with something to get. Since the point of this blog was to illustrate my journey and the meaning behind the tattoos I’ve chosen to get (or at least the lessons I’ve learned as to why that’s important and why I incorporate that philosophy now), you can guess that I couldn’t just get any ol’ tattoo. Certainly not. It’s easy to see something and think, now that’s cool, that could make a good tattoo, but it’s another to conjure up something that will look good and have true meaning (in my opinion anyway - you may have a different experience). I’ll cut to the chase on how I came to devise this next tattoo and save the detail for below - I like to peruse Google+ and I had come across a quote by a poet, which I loved, so I saved it for future reference (I also write poetry and I am sometimes inspired by the words of others. Many of my poems started with a line, or a few words that had initially be written by someone else). Then a few weeks later, or so, I came across a photo that, to put it simply, just spoke to me. Then out of nowhere I devised a way to combine the two into a meaningful tattoo.
December 22, 2012/January 18, 2013 - Authentic Ink (Omaha, NE)
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Location: Outer portion of my right thigh
Tattoo: Two skeletons branching off into trees with night on one side and day on the other with a verse from a poem at the bottom.
Story: I’ll start by sharing the whole quote and citing its source - “Night is purer than day; it is better for thinking and loving and dreaming. At night everything is more intense, more true. The echo of words that have been spoken during the day takes on a new and deeper meaning. The tragedy of man is that he doesn’t know how to distinguish between day and night. He says things at night that should only be said by day.” - Elie Wiesel
What I find beautiful about poetry is that, yes the author usually had some intended meaning behind his/her writings, but they are always so open for interpretation and can speak to anyone in whatever way they feel. Frankly, when I first came across this poem, it didn’t mean anything to me necessarily, but after finding the photo to pair it with, it took on a deep meaning for me. I had found this photo of two skeletons (which are obviously dead) that had arms with leaves growing from them, and their feet were roots. From this poem I devised a night and day scenario - one side would be graced by moonlight and the other by a sunrise. The roots would be in water while the quote went over it - I chose to only use a portion - “Night is purer than day; it is better for thinking and loving and dreaming.” Many things may look more beautiful during the day, but at night, at night is when everything truly comes alive. At night is when everyone’s true self comes out, but in order to be blessed with the night, we must first be graced by the sunlight.
Session 1 -
Session 2 -
I have also been struggling a lot when it comes to love. What I derived from this photo of these skeletons was death and despair, but regardless of the times we encounter death, pain, loss, despair and loss of hope, there is always a glimmer of life and possibilities. In order to truly experience love, we must also endure pain and despair. Without one, we cannot have the other, just as without day, we cannot have night.
Death does not necessarily mean the end, but rather the beginning of something else. Making room for something new to grow.
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