Here is my only tattoo, so far. If you can't tell, it is a yin-yang on fire. I got this tattoo at Great Southern Tattoo in College Park, MD. A friendly, family owned place outside the heart of the "college town." Their work is very good, and they make their own lotion for aftercare. The lotion is not only good for tattooes, but almost any ailment that would require lotion. I am very pleased with the artwork that is now a permanent part of my body. What you cannot see is the little blue tips accents on the flames. I may try to get a better picture so everyone can see the whole thing.
The denoted meaning of the tattoo is fairly obvious, I think. The yin-yang represents the balance of our lives, and it is on fire, ... a destroyed balance. What it means in relation to my life is my now subsided depression. It is there to remind me of how I pushed people away (family, friends, and my then fiance, Lauren). The flames are also "pointing" towards my back, meaning that, if the flames were real, I would be moving forward, a metaphor of my progress. My depression did not only deteriorate the relatioship I had with myself, but pretty much every one I had.
Depression, if you have not experienced it, can make you focus on the bad parts of everything, including all of your relationships. Though most things you think about are exaggerations of reality, they still feel real. Your world, your balance of the positive, has been destroyed.
Anyone thinking of getting a tattoo should think first of an important time in their lives, and get a tattoo representing that. Depression, a child, a marriage, losing a loved one, anything that MEANS something to you. I don't view this permanent artwork as something that should be arbitrary. And the first one should be special with the marking of the "virgin" skin. I know I chose wisely, and I think everyone else should to.
There that was my little speech on meaning, and my tattoo. This will mean as much to me when I'm 80 as it does now. |
