Ron - you always crack me up.

Allen - don't have to feed tats.

Mike - I appreciated your words of understanding.

Castle - I answered this in the chat with you this afternoon. I hate to say since this is a public forum even though odds are limited anyone I know would see it.

As for tats or not tats? I think it is a personal choice but do not see why anyone would care if another person got one. It was my decision to make and I have no regrets.

Good luck, Castle. Keep us posted.

I'm the last person you'd think would have a tattoo but I got my first and only one during Independence weekend this year. It says 'a survivor' in Korean (my wife and I adopted children from Korea).

I'm a huge believer in there being a diffence between being a victim (what happened to me) and a survivor (what I'm doing about it/with it). I wanted a tattoo that marked that change or transition/committment for me.

Tattoos are (or at least in my opinion should be) intensely personal though so I'd encourage you to really explore what you want it to signify for you alone and then do that for yourself. I will take a picture of mine and figure out some way to post it if I can.

My two cents

Well... I suppose I should chime in here, especially since I haven't chimed for a while.

I have my fair share of ink. My first was young and dumb, small and off the wall. No thought put into it, and I've always regretted it. But, like you, It seemed that I needed an outlet for the parts and pieces of my life that never really made any sense. Particularly, the darker parts. My back is one big story that I'm still telling. It's a work based around the 8 auspicious symbols of Buddhism, but each symbol also tells a story about my past, my present, and my future. The scene occurs in a Tibetan garden with a temple on a mountain, and the sun setting in the background. An old cherry blossom next to a pond are in the foreground. The symbols are embedded throughout the scene.

I'm not really one for the monsters ripping out of the body type of tattoos, but that's just me. I also agree with others, you must also consider location and size. If you're going to get a tattoo, small is just going to look like melanoma in a few years.

I consider my ink an art piece. Thus I would also advise you to choose your artist wisely. Don't just let anyone do it. Get references. Lastly. Remember. They really do hurt like hell.

Allen

.

For me, getting inked was part of taking back my body.

I have five - one on each forearm, covering my track scars (from too many needles...). One on my wrist, covering a scar from a suicide attempt, and two on my back, covering some of the worst scars from the physical abuse. I put a lot of thought into the designs, and every tattoo has a strong symbolic link to the specific scar it covers. I love every one of them and if I had my life over, I would get exactly the same tattoos in the same places again

I got one ten years ago to mark some of the tough work I had done in therapy. And the freedom I experienced rejecting a lot of the negative messages my parents tsught me.

It's on my Left hip and from a popular kids movie from 2002 about a mustang horse in the American West who got captured and domesticated and found a way out to freedom to his true self and native land.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/510AYM86PHL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

I've considered another one-since my Csa recovery started three years ago: a mourning black armband.

I have always wanted one but have always held back for fear of being judged. They are way more acceptable now. I have been thinking about getting one a fair bit lately. But it is something nice churchy boys don't do. I know my wife would not approve.

It is kind of like I want to mark my body as my own. But also that I want to warn other to stay away from me. If that makes sense.

I have wanted a black arm band around my bicep of barbed wire for as long as I can remember. I have never thought of it as a mourning armband though...thanks for the idea Buck.

I'm glad this came up again.

.

i, too, have thought about it recently. something to mark a change. i even have a design in mind. and i'd put it on my upper arm - where it could be seen - but not all the time and not too big.

my wife and kids and boss and friends and co-workers would all be totally shocked. they would all think it was completely out of character. maybe that's a good reason to do it! like saying - you don't know as much about me as you think.

lee

Exactly!

Lee (traveler) What design did you have in mind?