Tat Tat tatted up?

As I was changing my gauges earlier I stopped and asked myself “do people look at me differently because of my gauges and tattoos”? I have a wrist tattoo, shoulder tattoos, and one on my lower calf. Those are the only majorly visible ones at least. I also used to have my lip pierced which I then traded for my size zero gauges.

I miss it sometimes but then I remember that I in corporate America and I believe that my boss would frown upon that. Being the youngest person, having gauges, visible tattoos, AND a lip ring would just be too much. I like being an individual but I think I have to draw a line at some point.

In my generation, tattoos and piercings are basically the norm. The generations before mine, however, have yet to catch up to this notion. Will body modifications such as tattoos, piercings, or stretched ear lobes ever be acceptable in corporate America? This is a question that I will just have to wait and see what the answer is in the years coming.

Do I regret any of my tattoos or piercings? I don’t believe in regrets. Everything that I have on my body is something that I wanted at one point in time. I only have one tattoo covered up but that is a topic for another day. But even that is something that I wanted at the time.

Do I think that they limit me in life sometimes? Absolutely. When I graduated from college and started looking for jobs I had to “cover up”. I had to put in my solid colored gauges in and make sure that my tattoos were covered, especially the one which adorns my shoulders. Ironically enough, that’s actually one of my favorite tattoos that I have.

I know that I get stares and sideways looks from people when I go out sometimes, and I’m okay with that. I love who I am and my body art is just an outward expression of who I am on the inside. Plus, it makes for great conversation starters with people around my age. I can’t tell you how many times someone has said “nice gauges” or “Oh you have ballet shoes on your ankle? Do you dance?” and that sparked a great conversation.

Moral to the story, love yourself for yourself. Everyone is different and not everybody will like the choices you make. People WILL judge you based on how you look on your outside long before they get to know who you are on the inside. There isn't anything anyone can do about that. As long as you are comfortable with whom you are, both on the inside and the outside, then it won’t matter. The people who DO matter, will get to know you for you. Those are the ones you want to keep around.

~Tea