Tattoo

For much of my life I have been able to appreciate the tattoos that I saw around me. I love that they are just another way of expressing yourself. They are your own little painting to display to the world to tell them a little bit more about yourself.

Sometime in high school I decided that I would join the masses and get a tattoo. I would get one but I told myself that it needed to mean something and I wanted to make sure that I would still love it years later. At first the only tattoo ideas were silly and impersonal, like a star on the wrist. It seems like almost everyone has a star on them somewhere. After realizing that the star was a stupid idea I was lost for any other tattoo idea. I knew I still wanted one but couldn't figure out what I wanted.

Then last semester a great idea popped into my head. I should get a tattoo of a sea turtle. So I looked online for sea turtle designs and found the perfect one. It is just a solid black figure of a turtle with a spiral as a shell. I have always loved sea turtles. I got a shirt when I was in 2nd grade at the beach with the turtles on it, and now, even though it is falling apart, I still wear it every so often.

Besides just loving sea turtles I love what they stand for. I am very much like a turtle, when I feel threatened by the outside world I withdraw back into my own 'shell'. They also tend to keep to wisdom and knowledge to themselves. Some say that the turtle stands for earthy, grounded, and steady. Three things that like. While they are for land turtles I feel that they can apply to sea turtles, because they are similar (just live in water). Everything I find out about the symbolism behind turtles makes me want the tattoo even more. Maybe I'll get it this summer, I just have to find a way to pay for it.