I have been thinking about a tattoo for a while now. I have a couple already and had been thinking about getting a new one. For me tattoos are kind of a personal thing even though they are on a persons body for the whole world to see. The tattoos that I have all have very personal meaning and thoughts behind them so it goes without saying that I put a lot of thought into these new tattoos. I hadn’t planned on getting them when I did, and even though it was kind of a spur of the moment kind of thing I had put a lot of thought into them.

I have always been a visual type of person. I have always liked tattoos on other people, and have always been intrigued by tattoos in general. I like the way they look, but more than that I have always been interested in the people that get them and the reasons behind them. There are endless reasons why someone would want a tattoo and all of them are probably different from the next. For every person in this world that has a tattoo or piercing or anything else body modification related there is another person that doesn’t understand why someone would do something like that to their body. I think more than just the visual and artistic aspect of tattoos I have really been interested in the reasons behind why someone would want to change their body in such a way. I am not even going to get into individuality versus conforming to the standards of whatever society you belong to. I personally feel like everyone has a little of both going on. People want to be different, but on the same hand people want to fit in. Either way, it takes a lot of courage to be an individual sometimes. When it comes to tattoos a lot of people see a tattoo and think that person is just trying to fit in. Different people have different motivations behind tattoos, and while I am sure there are people that just get tattoos to fit in believe it or not, not everyone that gets a tattoo is just trying to fit in. I have always admired the people that get tattoos despite what society thinks or says about them. It takes a lot of something (you can decide what you think it takes) for a person to step outside of the cookie cutter mold that we try to put people in. People that go to extremes like full body tattoos, or facial tattoos, or large gauged ears, or implants (not of the breast variety), or scarification or whatever else obviously put a lot of thought into their decision to change their body in such a way knowing that most of society is not going to be accepting of their choice. I personally think it takes a lot of courage to make the decision to be that different. On the other side of the fence from people that try to make themselves appear physically different from the rest of the world are people like me, people that were born looking very different physically than the majority of people. While I do think that a big majority of people (from my personal experience anyway) are accepting of both cases, there is always going to be people that don’t understand or accept people that or different, whether it be by choice or not. Unfortunately no amount of blogging or anything else is going to change they way those people view the world around them including the things and people that are different. I don’t understand people like that, and probably never will, but its not for me to understand. The only thing I can do is be me and let everyone else be whoever they are.

 There is a website that I frequent that deals with body modification. The site is not for everyone and is definitely not for the close minded. It is a community site dedicated to body modifications. One of the slogans that the website uses is “I never wanted to be different I just wanted to be me”. I have been a viewer of this site for several years, and while I don’t necessarily agree with everything or everyone on the site, from strictly a body acceptance point of view, I have always related to that slogan. I admire the people that willingly change their bodies and make the conscious decisions to be themselves and not worry about what everyone else thinks about them. No matter how negatively society may view them, they are proud of their bodies and accept each others differences without question. I can’t help but relate to people like that on some level, even though their choosing to be different and I didn’t have a choice.

 That slogan has kind of stuck with me every since I first visited the site a few years ago. I never wanted to be different, I just wanted to be me. Above everything else, forget fitting in or conforming, I just want to be me. I don’t want society to be able to dictate who I need to be. I want to be me, and if society isn’t cool with that its there problem not mine. People always like to point out that tattoos are permanent and that’s one of the things I love about them. They don’t change, they don’t waver. When you make the choice to put ink to skin, that’s how it’s going to be. I love the tattoos that I have because they are permanent reminders. They are always there to remind me of what I was thinking about or going through at the time I chose to get them. Not that I need to be reminded to be myself, but if I ever do doubt or question who I need to be, all I have to do is look down and it’s right there. I have wanted to get a tattoo related to that slogan for a while now, its something I have thought about for a couple of years. I wanted something to remind myself to just be me. I also wanted the tattoos in a visible place as a reminder to society that they don’t get to tell me what I can or can not do, or who I can or can not be. Whether it be because of some genetic anomaly, or my own choice to alter my body, I am different. I am unique. I am me. I chose to embrace my differences and not bow to what society says is normal. For some strange reason society, and particularly mainstream media, thinks they should be able to decide what people should act like or dress like or look like and I personally refuse to accept that. I just want to be me!

Most everyone I know has seen them, and the reactions have been pretty varied. I have had friends say they were the perfect tattoos for me, and then I have had people say they just don’t get them. The tattoos are kind of like me, you either get me, or you don’t. I think they are pretty simple, and pretty self explanatory. I think maybe people read too much into things sometimes. For the most part, everyone I know has been positive about my decision to get them, even if they don’t understand or approve. Whether or not people understand or accept me,  all I ever really wanted was to be me!