Day 1: Tattoo

Tattoos represent something different to everyone. Some of inked for the remembrance of someone special, a picture to represent a phase in their life or even words to remind them of life lessons they have learnt.

I have always wanted a tattoo but as yet have not had it inked. For me personally, it takes courage to trust another person to ink something permanent onto your body. The thought of a mistake and giving another person control over something important to me holds me back.

However, if I should put my big girl panties on and get one, it would probably turn out to be more than one. The main tattoo I have wanted is at the back of my neck, just below my hairline. I wanted either a cross with the letter “J” in the middle of it or a heart with wings with the letter “J” on it. This tattoo would be very special to me as it represents the three loves I have and had in my life, namely my deceased husband, my daughter and my saviour, Jesus. I wouldn’t need to see it to know that it’s there because like my husband and Jesus who I don’t see but I can feel their presence and my daughter goes with me wherever I may go. 

The other tattoo(s) I would have would be three red roses. I would place one just above one of my breasts, one just above my pubic hair line and one on my ankle. As I write this, I can actually see them and feel what they represent. A woman is like a rose and her beauty is in the eye of her beholder. A rose hibernates in winter, keeping warm, embracing the rain and withering the storm until spring when a rose comes out of its shell and blossoming, sharing the scent and colour to the rest of the world.

For me as a woman, I feel like a rose. In winter, I cover up, keeping warm, hibernating in my shell while I embrace the cold air, the rain and wither the weather until spring. When spring arrives, I come out of my shell, allowing my inner and outer beauty blossom and bloom sharing my vibrant colours with my world. From the bra I wear, the panties I fit into and the heels I wear, God lets my inner rose outshine my material roses I need to face the world.

A tattoo to some might be marking the body God blessed you with or something grotesque but to me, a tattoo tells the story of the rose in front of me. It allows me to listen, learn and love another person’s inner beauty that God created because no matter how we look….WE. ARE. ENOUGH.