I've always been a lover of tattoos and the meaning they can hold for the person that wears them. The adults I grew up around all had them and I spent most of my teenage years dreaming about what I was going to get the day I turned 18. My ideas changed frequently over the years depending on what phase of my life I was in and what I wanted when I was fifteen was no where near what I wanted when the day finally came. My nineteenth birthday is coming up quickly (less than a week!) and my tattoo count is currently at four. I definitely see myself getting more in the future but for now I'm taking a break from the needle. I want them each to mean something to me and I'm going to make sure that whatever I get on my body next is something that holds a lot of sentiment.

I went through a lot in my high school years and for my first tattoo I wanted something that symbolized my journey. I've always taken a liking to feathers and what they mean. To me, they symbolize strength and the ability to move on; which was exactly what I needed after four particularly rough years. So on my eighteenth birthday I made the appointment and two weeks later I was in the chair. I don't think I'd ever been that nervous. I've never been particularly fond of needles and the thought of sitting there with one continuously poking me for forty minutes straight was not appealing. But I sucked it up and a little while later I had a feather on my left wrist. It's just about due for a touch up and I think I'm going to have altered a bit so it doesn't look so rough around the edges. I want it to look a little bit more elegant and wispy. I don't love it 100% but I love what it means to me which is why I'll never regret any ink I put on my body.

The next tattoo I got was about five months later. I wanted to get something for my mom and my sister because they are two of the most important people in my lives. Because I was just about to go off to college at the time and I'd always loved them, I thought birds would be appropriate. So that's what I got. I have 3 black silhouettes of birds in flight on my collarbone/shoulder area. This is by far my favorite tattoo because of how elegant it is. I love the placement and the idea that no matter where I am I'll always have my family with me.




I got these next two tattoos about two months ago in the same sitting. The first one is a very small outline of a heart on the outside of my right wrist. It may not seem like it means anything but for me it is a reminder. I've always struggled with confidence and loving myself and when I see this heart it reminds me to do just that. It reminds me everyday to love myself no matter what I see looking back at me in the mirror.



My fourth and by far most painful tattoo is located on the side of my right foot. This one isn't as serious as the others but I love it just the same. I've been watching Titanic since I was about five years old. It is my all time favorite movie and I don't think that will ever change. In an early scene, Jack had dinner with Rose's people and makes a speech about making each and every day that he's alive count. Before he leaves that dinner he slips Rose a note that says "Make it count. Meet me at the clock." So I found a screen cap of that moment, had my tattoo artist trace "make it count" and that phrase will live forever on my foot. It is a little tribute to the movie I've invested so many hours of my life watching but the meaning goes further than that. With this tattoo, I'm remembering the speech Jack made and applying that mantra to my own life. I'm going to make each moment count.

I hope you enjoyed this post!