I wanted a tattoo. Simple request. Actually, it turned out to be two tattoos. A talisman to remind me of the blessings in my life and to remind me why I have made such drastic changes in my life. I asked plenty of advice, I got plenty of support, I thought it over carefully and, of course, ended up getting it on reality TV.
I planned the trip for the tattoo. Simple trip. Vegas, baby. Mom, Zadra, me. Fun to be had. Tracey G. meeting us there because she was already there.
Hart & Huntington at the Palms.
Show up, do the interview, get the tattoo, drive home. Simple.
Zadra put it best - "you don't do anything simple."
The simple trip for the simple tattoo with the simple plan of a couple of close friends became deeply not simple when I was in the middle of it.
As Joey, my very gentle and darling tattoo artist, carefully worked on my art, I looked over my shoulder. Zadra, Tracey G., and Tracey's friend Lisa stood at the counter of Hart & Huntington, smiling at me, just about glowing with enthusiasm. I looked to my left and there sat my mom, a bit confused, I think, by the whole thing, but smiling and laughing and joking with Joey. And a simple tattoo became so much more.
It became everything I said it was going to be and so much more. I will remember this day for the rest of my life.
Those beautiful, smiling friends who were there simply because I asked them to be. In fact, Tracey almost demanded she be there before I could even ask her to be. The positive energy, the warmth and the love filled the room. The only thing that could have been better would have been for my dear Chairman to be there but I know he was there in spirit.
My incredible mother, sitting with me, just because I asked her to be. I can't even write about my amazing mother and what she and my father mean to me. Words cannot describe.
My tattoo artist, Joey.
Need I say more about Joey? Okay, I will. Gentle, sweet, charming, gorgeous. His attention to what I wanted and the care and thought he put into his work resulted in art that far exceeded what I had anticipated. He used three different inks and careful shaded in details, constantly referring to the pieces I brought to make sure he got it perfectly right.
And as I sat there, Joey gently working on my wrist, I became intensely aware of what all of this means.
This is truly the beginning of my life. This talisman will serve to remind me on those dark days that are sure to loom ahead that I have blessings, I have begun to search for true enlightenment, I am on a path to my destiny, whatever that will be. It will remind me of those smiling, gorgeous faces and the ones that weren't there but will be just as brilliant and lovely when I share today with them. It will remind me that my life is about me, not in a selfish way, but in a way that keeps me in the picture always and never let me lose myself again.
My talisman a little swollen, a little red and a little blotchy but soon to be beautiful.
There is so much more I want to say but don't have the words for yet. I am profoundly grateful for the grace and beauty that surrounds my life. I am profoundly humbled by those who grace my life - Zadra, Chairman, AJ, Peter, Tracey G., Erin, Damien, Mikee, Tiffany, Misha, Erik, and recent additions, Monica and Patty. And many others that surround my life. The grace that is my creative life at the Ark, the support, the guidance, the encouragement and the wonder that I have found there.
So much for a few lines of brown and red and yellow to hold and stand in for. So much for a couple of foreign symbols to represent. But so glad to have those lines and those symbols forever visible literally an arms length away, as are most of the most precious parts of my life.
2 comments:
Congrats!!!!!
Don't ya just love intimate encounters with attractive, sensitve men? Sounds like the experience was a gift in so many ways.
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