2 Tatt2 or not 2 Tatt2
For me, the highlight of yesterday's Massive Mix concert was Simple Plan. Miss L has good taste. My music-of-the-moment swings around about as much as my moods. I've been in a Classical phase for some time now (Dvorak, Motzart, Tchaikovsky) but rock, 80's, reggae, trance, acid jazz, alternate, ethnic, house...they've all had their turns. Simple Plan have got a lot of energy and got the crowd pretty wild.
A large heavy metal contingent had pitched for Metallica. Loads of tattoos on display. I've been toying with the idea of getting a tattoo for some time now. I've already designed it:
There's a lot of symbolism in this design. First it contains many letters: C, T, X, S, H, V, Y... Some of the letters take up the whole design and some of them appear twice (symetrically). There is also an all-seeing eye. I wanted something "tribal" and got inspired by Maori art. Definitely plain black.
But there's more to it. My life story has been defined by Ys (can you see the 2 of them?) The neverending cycle of the Yin of depression and the Yang of happiness. The cosmic YoYo. (if you look carefully you will see a truncated Yin & Yang in the design too) Why? Why? Why? The pythagorean letter. The only letter that doubles as a vowel and consonant (think sky, fly). The design of the South African flag. The divine Yoni. I could go on and on, but if you really want to know all about the y in bipolar guY , you'll have to read my book - "A Branch of Wisdom" (which was also a Y - just a wooden one).
I'm planning to put it on my upper right arm, exactly the same size as the pic above. Just can't make up my mind yet...
Of course it looks very cool. If if it is going to bring you up when you are feeling down and it has such special meaning in general it seems like a good thing. The only thing is in the U.S. tatooing still has a stigma of 'being on the outside' a little, and I think many people enjoy that and the whole experience is good as far as they are concerned. Maybe this is a positive for you since we already have a stigma and are on the outside. I don't have kids (so this is my disclaimer) but I wonder how a teenager would feel about their Dad getting a tatto. Would that bring you closer together or would she think her Dad strange? Just a few things I was thinking about it :)
ReplyDeletewell i've got seventeen tats.. so i say GO FOR IT. :)
ReplyDeleteall of mine were either drawn by me or for me.. they're all custom work. and i think the symbolism behind yours is beautiful. i'd be proud to sport it.. i think you really should.
make your mark, baby! make it!
I'd say go for hennae. That way when you get sick of it, you can just let it fade away.
ReplyDeleteI say go for it Chris. I thoroughly enjoyed your book. I fact got the whole family reading it.
ReplyDeleteYou tattoo also has balance and appears multidimensional.
A keY to unlock bipolar ?
Cheers
V.
Dude, if you dont get the tatt after that detailed interpretation, I'd be disappointed. It's a cunning design indeed.
ReplyDeleteTheyre also sublinally a statement of confidence in yourself. You believed enough in a thing, concept or notion to permanently inscribe it in ink, naively or otherwise. To me, mine have a variety of meaning but to others its says something about you, and invariably the first question you get is not "what is it?" but "what does it mean?". What better opportunity to explain how you tick to someone - assuming you can see it ;)