Last night I got my first tattoo. I’ve been wanting to get one for a while now, but was never sure about what I wanted. I’ve flipflopped over the years about getting either a butterfly, or dragonfly, or even a unicorn. But I was never satisfied with any designs I saw, and I wanted my tattoo to be vibrantly alive with color.One day I was looking around at some photos on google and came across a tattoo of a dandelion, and I knew I had to have it. Or at least I had to incorporate a dandelion into the tattoo that I would one day get. Dandelions have always been my favorite flower (Yes, they are flowers, not weeds…I’m sure I’ll write something about this later). When the dandelion has aged and is just a white puffball, there is this magical aspect to it. As if they will forever live on, because their seeds will fly away and spread across the land. And you can make wishes when you blow them.

So that is what I wanted for my tattoo. A fairy blowing a dandelion, with the moon in back of her. I presented this idea to a tattoo artist who did my sister’s tattoo, and he came up with the most amazing design, which was exactly what I wanted.

I wouldn’t say I was nervous at all to get one, as my husband has one and he can hardly stand any pain. So I figured it wouldn’t be very painful to get. Just different. When it started, I thought to myself, this isn’t bad. It’s a bit like concentrated rug burn. Like something repeatedly tickling your skin with a lot of heat. But nothing you can’t handle.

The most pain I had from the experience was my arm falling asleep cause I had to lay on my side, and my leg cramping up a bit. I was quite impressed with how it turned out, though it’s not finished yet.The fairy is done, but color still needs to be added to her wings, the moon, and the smoke that she’s wrapped in.

I’ve heard that once you get one tattoo, you will want another. And I get how that could happen. You like how one turns out, and you want to decorate your body with more things, more symbols that represent who you are, what you like. I get that. People without tattoos often don’t understand the need or want to get them. They don’t want to mar the body they were born with, or they don’t believe in putting something so permanent on their skin, because it won’t just wash off over time. It may fade, but unless you have it surgically removed, it’s there forever. I think several of my relatives might not understand why I would want one.

But to me, a tattoo represents more than just ink on skin. When it’s done right, and you’ve had input into the tattoo you want, it defines you even more than before. You have something on your skin that is unique, that no one else might have. If it’s a custom design, it’s not something everyone will be putting on them. It has meaning to you that others may never see by just looking at it. It will have a story. The story of how you chose it, when you got it, and what it means to you.

I’m not sure if I’ll want to get more tattoos, but I might. I could add more to this one, maybe put a unicorn somewhere, or a dragonfly. We’ll see. I think I would have to feel very strongly about it to want to permanently put it on my body. The dandelion has always been a part of me, and now everyone can see it. And the tattoo is beautiful.