A first...

I've been thinking about getting a tattoo for at least the last year (probably longer). I don't know what sparked my interest. This decision has not been made lightly. I understand a lot of people don't like tattoos & close family members and friends can be quite verbal about their opinions. I respect what other people think and I took their opinions into consideration. So after much analyzing, I decided I wanted a tattoo on the inside of my wrist. I chose my Enneagram personality symbol, "peacemaker."

I originally wanted it very small, like an inch long. I wanted something meaningful to me that I would see every day. So it was just a matter of finding a good place to go. I had a short list of good tattoo parlors that I'd heard about from friends, but it took me several months to finally walk into one. Yesterday Ralph & I went to see The Muppets. (It was very cute and silly.) Afterwards, I randomly said, "Okay let's go get my tattoo." So we went to Good Clean Fun Tattoo on 78 in Snellville. I heard they do good work, but can be a pain to deal with. I told Dave (I think) that I wanted it very small & he laughed at me (something about how it would spread over time & look bad). He printed out the smallest size possible, which was about twice as big as I originally wanted. I signed my life away, paid $60 & we got started. The pain was better than I expected. I am prone to fainting and have a low tolerance for pain. The tangerine flavored Dum-Dum helped and I'm glad Ralph was there too. He's a great support for my anxious self. It was over in like 10 minutes or less. I tend to overthink things (if you couldn't tell that already after reading thus far!). Millions of people have elaborate tattos, so my little black tattoo is not on the radar of elaborate tattoos, but it's a big deal to me. Dave wasn't a pain to work with; he just has a bold personality & will tell you like it is. Ralph chronicled the experience with pictures (which can be seen on my Facebook page). I have the after-care instructions & hopefully I won't mess anything up.
To each his/her own. If I decide getting this tattoo was the stupidest thing ever when I'm 60 years old, I might write a blog entry about it! Until then however, I will enjoy it. And I will continue my quest to be a peacemaker and have peace in my life.