Bookish and Belle: Tattoo ideas

Monday, December 5, 2011

Tattoo ideas

As a lover of beautiful things, art, fashion, and self-expression, I am unsurprisingly often quite taken with lovely tattoos. And, of course, I hate the ones I hate the with same passion I have for ugly clothing, etc.

I've long toyed with the idea of getting a tattoo or two myself, but I don't know if I'll ever take the plunge. For one thing, the permanence scares me. After all, my tastes change and I enjoy the limitlessness of being able to push out the old and bring in the new.

The other problem is that I have too many ideas for what tattoo I would want.

Here are some of them . . .

1. A black swan feather drifting down my back in honor of my mother (who always finds feathers and of the fact that beauty isn't all about perfection -- the message Nina struggles with in the movie "Black Swan." I related to that character a little too much. I could learn a lot from her mistakes.

2. The line "It tolls for thee" from the famous John Donne meditation with an image of a bell to symbolize that we are all connected.

3. Something symmetrical with the word "fool" on one side and "freak" on the other. These words have deep meaning to me. "Fool" is about love and taking chances and how it's okay to take the first step down a flight of stairs you can't see the end of. It also is the meaning of Ryan's last name, "Fohl," and is my favorite tarot card. "Freak" is about being different and embracing that. Letting your freak flag fly, as some people say.

4. The image of a seam ripper to remind myself that it's okay to make mistakes and that I have the tools I need to move past them.

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Here are some tattoos that inspire me either in image, placement, or both . . .