Tattoo #1 And so it begins…

I remember in my late teens blog writing was such a craze. Everyone had a blog and it was filled with pages of drama and stories about social acitivites outside work, books or just this is what I did today stories. I also had a blog, and I used it to write about feelings I found hard to express to other people and just generally how I felt about things, and poetry – I was really into poetry writing back in the day. Normally dark and moody in nature…writing about feeling trapped seemed so easy for me.

So why have I suddenly decided to write a blog again? Well for starters, my handwriting is now appalling so the idea of keeping a handwritten diary when I won’t know what I wrote seems pointless. But I guess I would like a safe space to just express myself. My own creative space. Its been a while since I wrote anything so I don’t expect it to be groundbreaking or a fascinating read. But maybe a mind dump of how I am. Thirdly I guess I had inspiration…

You Never Forget Your First…

As I have just recently put a deposit down on what will be my 7th tattoo and will likely be the most painful and intricate yet, I thought back to my first tattoo. The picture below being the tattoo I designed for myself which the tattoist adapted into a stencil.

Its been 10 years since I got this tattoo done in 2014 and honestly I didn’t have the best experience. I recall sitting upright with my back exposed to the artist as the tattoo was going on my left shoulder blade – being left handed I felt a natural bias to that side. The sound of the tattoo needle humming into action and then it began – the most excrutiating pain I had felt in my life. When people say that tattoos are like cat scratches, they are being generous, think of it as a continuous cat scratch and if you have cats you know those claws when they get into you are no joke. I recall feels sick and light headed and asking the tattoist to stop. I felt faint and had to lie down. They brought me a lollipop and let me come out of my daze. They came back 5 minutes later and asked what I wanted to do, reschedule or continue.

Maybe my fainting spree meant the artist was running behind schedule but I felt given it was my first tattoo, could have been a bit more sensitive to my plight.

I felt rushed to make a decision and I said to continue but if its too painful could we reschedule – remember I was only 25 years old and this was my first tattoo. They responded if we continue, we go all the way to the end. I didnt feel they were the most sympathetic person and it felt to me (again a sensitive 25 years old) that they were frustrated with this delay. I also felt very isolated and alone, as if I was the first person to react this way in a tattoo appointment (not true at all as I will recount with the second tattoo sometime…) and well I felt I had no choice but to continue. At that point they offered a change of position and said I could lie flat whilst they did the work. That was a much better position for me and the rest of the tattoo went on without hitch.

When it was over they covered it in cling film and micropore (this was before second skin was used more commonly) and I was given brief cleaning and aftercare instructions (antibac soap and warm water, use bepanthan (again this was before fade the itch) etc), a leaflet, paid and left.

It did put me off returning to that studio or getting another tattoo until 2016…but thats a story for another day.