Tattoo Journey - Part 3 - Pain & Tarnish

Ok so now that I’m getting into thinking about a tattoo, I’m constantly reminded of two things:

1. It’s permanent
2. It hurts

Yesterday I was standing in the mirror, looking at my shoulder, which currently is pale & smooth with no marks or scarring of any kind. I was trying to picture a tattoo there and was thinking: “Is that what I want to see every time I look in the mirror?”(We’ve got mirror on 2 bathroom walls so you always see your back in a mirror somewhere….)

I figure the tattoo will be a part of me and not some strange, fictional element like it is to me right now. Once I decide on a design, I’ll have it drawn on or something first to make sure I want to tamper with my skin that way, but I think that if I pick the right tattoo, looking at it will remind me of the memories I want that tattoo to represent for me. It’ll be a visual statement to thoughts & memories that are important to me.

So about the pain… I think my pain tolerance is fairly high. I’ve had my eyebrows & eyeliner done through permanent makeup and it was no picnic but I put up with it. It was worth it in the end. And it’s true what they say…. You won’t die!

I looked up options regarding taking Tylenol before going under the needle or even the numbing creams but have decided not to use any of that. From everything I have read, it could lead to unnecessary complications with a tattoo (healing process etc), so I’ll just bring someone whose hand I can squeeze really hard & who can distract me a little.

I’ve never actually had a problem with needles, any shots & blood work I’ve been through over the years have never been a problem, so I figure if I just go in & try to relax, it shouldn’t be too bad.

Still … it’s a daunting task to voluntarily go in for something that’s going to hurt.

It’ll no doubt be the biggest obstacle for me, once I’ve decided what to get.