So, I am in the process of having two tattoos removed via laser treatment. This was kind of a spur of the moment decision, but I have been wanting them gone for quite sometime, so I was furiously happy when I decided to go for it!
I think there are very few women (and men probably) of around my age who DON'T have a tattoo they regret and wish would disappear. I once met a gorgeous, sophisticated fashion designer girl who had the Guns and Roses logo on her rib cage. She wins.
Yes, I am an old person and I am going to say, "Think carefully before you get a tattoo. Don't be impulsive or rash. You will regret it." Oh, and get away from my porch! Where are my glasses...
The first one is a rose on my general upper boob area. I got it when I was 17, and had just been fired from a cafe. Yep, that showed that mean cafe lady!!!
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The second tatto I am getting removed is a star on my upper arm. There is a certain person out there with a matching one and I would rather go forward in my life without that little reminder.
(Yes, I stopped drawing my eyebrows on in the early nineties, after an intervention staged by my sister.)
The funny thing about these two little tattoos is, I want them both gone, but for very different reasons.
The Rose- I dislike the actual tattoo. It's lame and tacky and it is a great representation of why 17 year old girls shouldn't pick a tattoo off the wall of a tattoo studio in the valley with no thought whatsoever. But I love the memories it con jours up. This tattoo reminds me of the crazy time when I first left home. I was alone and responsible for myself for the first time. Living in a share house with three other girls (2 of whom I am still super close with today) I made A LOT of bad decisions, this was just one of them. But I also had some awesome fun with my friends, had many adventures and looked super cute in a beret and velvet choker! It was 1992. That's how we rolled.
The Star, I actually don't mind, as a tattoo. But it evokes too many memories I DON'T wanna keep. I want that tie broken.
I am slowly shedding the things of the past that I no longer need. I have a lot of stuff. I am in the process of deciding what I want to take with me in this next phase of our lives, and what I am happy to leave behind.
Whether it be ink, knick knacks, memories, perceptions, insecurities... I am packing some of it up. Lasering some of it off.
And just chucking a whole bunch of shit away.
Are you sentimental? Do you hang onto stuff? Or do you have a crap tattoo you wanna zap right off?
Fantastic to hear you are letting go of some of that past :) I laughed imagining you at 17... "Yes! That rose right there. Perfect!"... I have about twenty boxes of past life in my garage which you are inspiring me to look through and cull. The exercise should be entertaining and emotional!
ReplyDeleteI have but the one tattoo, Japanese characters for reiki left forearm, which I got at 27 after a major change in my life. I can't see me removing it but who knows maybe one day
I would love K to read this post BEFORE she goes ahead with any tattoos !!! I love that you are doing what you can to move forward and leave the past where it belongs, in the past.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a tattoo although I have thought more than once about getting one - it would be the yin yang sign. Having said that, I am probably too old now to get it done - LOL
Have the best time releasing the past !
Me
Love that you're tackling the nitty gritty stuff and get them removed the free yourself.
ReplyDeleteNo regrets with my tats. Any regrets about choices I've made in life....um not really I'm a product of my experiences.
Do I hold on to things, um yeah kind of but not obsessively like many might think being a vintage lover and collector.
Btw I think you'd still look super cute in a beret and choker. X
great post Gill! With our recent move, I threw a heap of photos out that didn't make me feel good. Memories of the past that brought a lot of yukky stuff back to the surface. It's always refreshing to clean out the tangible stuff and equally as refreshing to remove stuff that triggers those negative emotions. I wish I'd hung out a bit more with the seventeen year old you - think we could have had some fun times!!!
ReplyDeleteLove the awesome post Gill! It got me thinking about past decisions & in-decisions and how that has all become part of the tapestry of who I am now. To be honest, I avoided photos for years as I felt unworthy to be in pictures, as I was too fat (thanks to a certain high school friend for helping me believe that!) & ugly. That negative crap has finally been (largely) disposed of. I love that with age comes the reality that sometimes the undo button is useful, when applied wisely! I've got a few tats (which look bitching with my new wrinkles), but I don't know that I'd erase them, however I love the notion that we can reinvent, improve and evolve. Your story shows the depths of your decisions and just how hot we looked way back then!!!
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