Stabbing causes lifelong souvenir

Recently I did something I’ve only done one time before: I got a tattoo.

I know tattoos aren’t everyone’s favorite thing. I wasn’t much a fan of them for some time, but I got to thinking about what I would want if I were to ever get one. Might even have consulted Pinterest a little bit, too.

My first one was done while studying abroad. I didn’t start the trip planning to get one, but I thought on it and realized I wanted something to commemorate the experience.

I’m not one to jump into things and I’m not always open to trying new stuff, so I wanted to incorporate a reminder into it.

An intricate black outline of a compass with a map of the world inside now sits eternally on my arm, surrounded by the words ‘Die with memories, not dreams’.

If you’re thinking, “*gasp* ‘die’? You put ‘die’ on yourself?!” Relax. You sound like my mother.

The message is simple, do all the things you want while you can because it’s better to have memories than regrets.

The pain that comes with it isn’t great, but from my experience, you get used to it after awhile. It’s all about placement, really, and pain tolerance. An ankle tattoo will feel different from a forearm tattoo will feel different from a rib cage tattoo.

After the first, I never really planned to get a second one. Family said “I think one is enough, don’t you?” But I wanted something to commemorate all the countries I’d been to. And I really liked the look of a wildflower bouquet.

So, I merged the two ideas by finding out the flowers for each country I’ve traveled to, having them inserted into the design and thus, the new floral arm band tat came to be.

They won’t always come out perfect, but that’s okay. These pieces of art are going to hang around for awhile, and all that really matters is that it means something.

Also, these are way classier and prettier than I make them sound here. I swear. You can’t always do an image justice in writing.