epiphany

Reasoning

I'll attempt now to answer some questions about the tattoo--both it's meaning and the reasoning behind getting one.

Q: What were you thinking?

Honestly, I've wanted a tattoo since high school. Over the past several months, I've been thinking about it more and more: what it would look like, where I would put it, whether or not I really wanted something like that. So, no, it wasn't entirely impulsive or off the wall. Odd, perhaps. Impulsive, no.

Q: I think I understand the cross, but I don't get the circle. What's the meaning?

There are two symbols that have stuck with me throughout my life: the cross, and the phoenix. The cross is a symbol of death, denial, and seeming defeat. The phoenix is resurrection. Originally, I was going to get a plain cross, though I thought it would be nice to have a little bit of decoration to it. A friend suggested getting a Celtic cross. I like Celtic/folk imagery, but I know that such things go in and out of style. Also, I'm not committed to Celticism to the level of advertising it. (I'm very picky about what I advertise, even with my clothing.) I also tend to be more classical and simple in my taste. However, as I thought about it, I did like the circle imagery from the Celtic cross, which looks like a rising sun behind the cross. In one symbol, I could capture that death and resurrection theme, revealing the truth of present suffering in the cross and the hope of future life with the dawning of day.

Q: Why the wrist?

At that location, I can wear long sleeves and still be professional, but I can see it most of the time when I'm working or relaxing. It's also right there when I pray. (Not that I'm praying to my wrist.)

Q: Why is it upside down?

It's not upside down to me. I didn't get this for evangelistic purposes. It's for me to consider and remember.

Q: Isn't this out of character for you?

The one consistent thing I've observed about myself over the years is that I tend to do things people wouldn't expect. My decisions aren't necessarily unexpected to me, though it does take me a long time of quietly working through an idea before I'll act on it. When I do act, I tend to act quickly.

Q: Does it hurt? What did it feel like?

The cat scratch is the best description I could give. But it would be a malicious, sadistic, and very patient cat. It's like the cat takes one claw and slowly, repeatedly, and intently scratches the same area over the course of fifteen minutes. Once I was bandaged up, it felt exactly as if a cat had scratched me, that same sort of acidy throb. The next morning, it felt like a bruise. Now it hurts only if something rough brushes it or I stretch my hand a funny way. I imagine even that will go away as it completes healing.

As for relative pain, several people told me that the wrist is a very sensitive place for a tattoo. Having nothing to compare it to, I wouldn't know. I don't consider myself to have a very high pain threshold. The slow cat scratch description sounds terrible, but despite that, it really didn't hurt much during the process--far less than I expected. Afterward it didn't hurt enough to keep me awake that night. The blister on my toe was much more painful.

Q: What was the shop like? Can't you get diseases from tattoos?

I can't speak for all shops, since I've been to only one, but it was a lot like going to the barber. Everything was clean and orderly. A buzz similar to hair clippers came from the back. The clientele and artists might have been out of place in Watertown or Greenville, but they looked fairly typical for Seattle folks. The main difference from the barber was that there were books and racks full of sample tattoos to choose from (not all of them very nice). There were some sheets with Chinese characters on them. I enjoyed reading those and what looked like mistranslations to me, since Chinglish runs both ways. The sheet claimed it was kanji, so maybe some of them mean different things in Japanese. The funniest was "da," the character for "big," which was translated as "dying young."

Going into the back of the shop, things were equally clean and organized. It wasn't some sort of high tech landscape, lest you get Star Trek squeaky cleanness in your mind. Stylistically, it was more of a 1950's look. But it was very clean, well lit, odorless, and comfortable. They had various booths with different levels of privacy, depending on where you were getting your tattoo. My booth was at the far end of the row but pretty open, since there's nothing too revealing about the wrist.

I know for a fact that the shop owner is very responsible. He will not allow anyone under 18 to get a tattoo, even if the parents are there to approve. He says that tattoos are a big decision not to be made under impulse. I may not be correct in this, but I believe that a professional shop will discard the needles it uses after finishing with each customer in order to prevent the spread of disease.

Q: What will your mother say?

There's no speculation to this one. I set up the three part entry series mostly to break it to her gently. :-) Unfortunately, I wasn't patient enough to let her discover it on her own. She hadn't checked out the blog for a couple days, so she found out as I was talking to her. My assumption of her reaction: she'd be angry/disgusted at first but would laugh later. The reality: she was angry/disgusted at first but laughed later. (For her part--and I have no problem with her posting her version of events--she says she was laughing because I was laughing.) She also told me not to tell my aunts, which I should have expected. ;-D

Q: What would your father say?

This is a matter of speculation. Mom says he would turn over in his grave. I think he'd respond like when I asked about going to Alaska. First, he would be surprised, but within moments he'd get excited, revealing that he always really wanted one.

Q: How did people react when they found out about the tattoo?

Some of the reactions you can already read on the other postings. Most people out here think it's great. Many are surprised that Jonathan would get one. Only one asked, "Why in the world would you get a tattoo?" My answer: "Because I wanted one. Why don't you have a tattoo?"

Q: What was the funniest reaction?

That definitely goes to my friend Richard. Richard is in my church community group, is probably in his early forties (I'm not a good judge of age), and is a mild mannered farm boy from Minnesota who now drives a city bus. It turns out that if Richard were to take his shirt off, he's covered with tattoos. At community group on Tuesday, he rushed over, excitedly crying, "Jonathan got a tattoo? Show it to me!" He praised it, looked at me with a twinkle in his eye, and said, "You know, those things are contagious. They tend to spread."

I can already think of two others I'd like to have. ;-)

If you have any other questions, feel free to post them or send me a private e-mail. I've been slow about replying recently, but I'll do my best for you.

Posted by jonhanneman at April 6, 2006 12:28 PM | TrackBack