tattoo

[rm]

I am planning a new tattoo, that I will probably get in the fall or winter. It's going to be an old-fashioned compass sort of thing, and the idea is that its true north points towards my heart. The symbolism is rooted in the union of a myriad of my seemingly unrelated (but apparently not so) obsessions, and it is, I think, important to me that I be able to touch the thing. For reasons of balance (2 of my 3 current tattoos are on my left side) and symbolism and the fact that when I reach, I reach with my left hand, I want it on the right side of my body. The size will be somewhat dependent on location. The wrist would be very small. If I do get it on my forearm, it'll probably be a bit bigger. Obviously, I'm not going decide where I'm putting a tattoo based on what you all think, but the strength of my reactions to the opinions of others usually helps me clarify what was already in my own mind, hence this exercise. This will be my first new tattoo in about 8 years, and I'm so excited. Among othe things, it encapsulates things I've been looking for a way to encapsulate in a personally coded fashion for years. My other tattoos are largely about "things that have happened to me" which is a very jejune sort of self-marking that I don't regret, but also doesn't conform to the way I choose to exist now, while this one is largely about who I am and the internal whys and wherefores of the things I've dedicated myself to.

P.S. If you choose "somewhere else" please leave a comment as to where.

[Poll #778197]

Comments

[lllvis.livejournal.com]

For your description of your upcoming tattoo, somehow the arm just doesn't seem the place for it.

[00goddess.livejournal.com]

If on the arm, I like the idea of the inner arm above the elbow, because that is a secret place. I think that on the lower rib cage would be a good place, too.

[rm.livejournal.com]

I've thought about that (as it would match the one on my ribs on the other side, but I'm really wondering about the stability of that flesh over time if I do have a baby -- and since the compass is semetrical, it matters far more with this than with the other tattoo there.

Also, thank you for explaining your reasoning. it helps t know what peopel are thinking. A lot of the answers are surpising me.

[00goddess.livejournal.com]

Hmm, that's a good point. I just don't think of you as a pregnant person, I guess. You seem more the type to have a pregnant wife :)

[rm.livejournal.com]

Agreed. But since I'm like crazy hormone person lately (OMG I hate 33 SO MUCH), I'm in the throes of planning for every eventuality in the event that that whole preying on young, breeding minded females thing doesn't work out for me. ;)

Man, the amount of shit I have to try to have a sense of humour about later.... *mutters*

[00goddess.livejournal.com]

You just seem much more about a)your own journey and b)facilitating such things in the lives of other people.

Do you think the recent breakup is part of the bioclock thing?

[rm.livejournal.com]

Oh probably. But a lot of it is also being this age, and I think, perhaps more than anything the "healing crisis" thing I wrote about a few days ago. When I was finally better after being sick and scared for months I went through this whole THING about my abortion and kids and so forth and that mental revisiting was all before the other event. So, you know, stuff. Celiac can have very significant effecton fertility, so it's been one of several issues to come top of mind with this situation.

[00goddess.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that makes sense. For me it was leaving my job- suddenly I wasn't keeping myself too busy to deal with the emotions I had been squashing since my childhood.

[rm.livejournal.com]

*nodnodnod*

You know, I know the growth thing never stops, but this whole period from going into acting to the health stuff and its ramifications. I feel like I'm almost caught up n the backlog. It's pretty awesome, but I need a nap.

[graene.livejournal.com]

facilitating such things in the lives of other people.

My mind keeps tripping over this and "well, last time I bled was while staying with her..."

[00goddess.livejournal.com]

It just occurred to me that that impression fits a lot with Anubis- he oversaw embalming and funerals, escorted the dead on the first part of their journey, and weighed their hearts.

Although I am not a devotee of Anubis, I also work on the edges of things, in changes and transitions and uncertain spaces/times. So I understand that vibe. It's a Granny Weatherwax sort of thing.

[rm.livejournal.com]

I didn't know (or don't think I had realized) this until graene posted it. But I remember now, she got her period when she was at my house and was down about it.

And yes. This Anubis thing is very strange and very huge for me, especially today, as my latest round of reading just steered me towards the Hermes connection, which has always been a huge part of my life since I was so small it was little more than liking the way he smiled in drawings in my mythology books when I was six.

[00goddess.livejournal.com]

I didn't have a connection to Hermes as a child; it was only as an adult that I realized the omnipresence of Mercury in my life. I have plans for tattoos to commemorate that.

I am Mercurial, I venerate change and work well with it, there's that bit about edges and transformation and transition, and then there's my role in the lives of others: I am a catalyst for change. Synchronicity with Mercury has been a big part of my adult life.

[graene.livejournal.com]

Oooh, yes, exactly a Granny Weatherwax sort of thing.

[lllvis.livejournal.com]

Skin condition and stretching being an issue makes the inner wrist a good spot, as that won't change much unless you undergo a series bout of weight gain.

kingdom_key1 has an inner wrist tattoo largely for that reason. As well as the back of her neck, and an ankle as well.

[melebeth]

If you're thinking of a very detailed compass/compass rose the wrist may be too small to get really good shading done. The advantage of doing it somewhere on your arm (although I agree about it initially seeming like an odd location for the specified purpose) is that (if you so choose) you could _not_ angle it and it would still point towards your heart because a) your arm moves all around (also a disadvantage) and b) blood flows back along your veins to your center.

I need to find the last bit of stuff (norse runes/symbols for thought and memory/Hugin and Munin) I need to design my next tattoo, even if I won't be able to get it until I'm off the blood thinners sometime in the indeterminate future. I've been really wanting more art lately.

[rm.livejournal.com]

I haven't actually decided if it will have any color or shading. All my other tattoos are just flat, solid black. This may be the one that deviates, but I'm very torn on that right now too.

[redbird]

My thought is the front of the right shoulder: because when I reached across my body with my left hand, my fingers wound up touching my shoulder. A possible disadvantage of that location is that it wouldn't be visible most of the time.

[heron61.livejournal.com]

I'd go for someplace more centrally located, such as on the front side of your right arm, right where it meets your shoulder.

It's interesting - Becca also has a compass rose tattoo, but hers is in the center of her sternum and north points upward towards her head. It's interesting to speculate what the two different placement choices (both location and point towards heart vs. pointing up) might mean about someone (if anything).

[rm.livejournal.com]

Well, thsi choice for me isn't about romance vs. intellect, but rather about all my secret loves I can attach to that mark. In some ways, it's like a more interesting, and more complicated, right-hand ring (which I think is the stupidest thing, btw).

[kalyx.livejournal.com]

yay, new ink.

My thought is the right side rib cage, just under the breast. And to go fairly large, maybe 2 1/2 inches in diameter so that it will look stunning and like art. So many small pieces look too much like a birthmark or smudge until you are on top of it.

I'm getting my ink on Aug. 6th. I don't know how I'm going to pay for it as my first session is four hours at $150/hour and I have 2-3 more sessions after that. but I'll have a traditional Japanese half sleeve after. I'm trying not to worry about the money.

And I used to worry about the possibility of babies, but not so much anymore. I'm also nearly 33 (in Aug) and my hormones have been fucked for the last few years. But is anything, the seems to make me want someone to rip my uterus from my body, not to spawn. Eh, if I get the urge, I can always adopt. shrug.

[blue-by-you.livejournal.com]

I think somewhere on the torso, and only because if you want the arrow to point to your heart, I can't imagine how you will manage that on an appendage that moves in so many directions?

[graene.livejournal.com]

My thought had also, instinctively, been on the torso, but the possible pregnancy thing had me kinda stumped. When I try to remember your hand-waving patterns as you speak, it's pretty much all stretch-possible areas. If you want to go up, near the shoulder, I would say the hollow between your shoulder joint and collarbone, or maybe just up over the collarbone from there if you want more visibility.

[abnormal-apathy.livejournal.com]

Of all of the choices you listed, I went with just above the elbow. I have a tattoo on my left inner wrist and it was the most painful tattoo I had done. I also have one on my finger, my ankle, the back of my neck and my sternum, but seriously, the wrist hurts.

I also agree, however, that somewhere on the torso might make for a better locale given the nature of the design.

[miep.livejournal.com]

when I said "somewhere else", I was picturing somewhere like graene suggested, or else on your right side, below the breast, above the crook of the elbow where your arm presses against your side, if it ever does.

[storyjen.livejournal.com]

I see that I'm on a different wavelength than most of the posters here, but what I thought about first was your acting and whether a visible tattoo would have any kind of impact on your roles. I chose "wrist" of the choices you gave because such a tattoo could be easily covered by a bracelet or wristwatch if a role demanded it. This would give you some flexibility: tattoo visible when you needed it, invisible when you needed it. I don't know how that would fold in to the "secret loves" symbolism you mentioned earlier, but it might be congruent with it, depending on how you hold such loves, or such secrets.

[sola.livejournal.com]

I technically like the elbow placement, but it occurs to me that to touch it, you would need to cross your arms over your body, which is a position of defense. Hidden things don't need to be directly defended, or they are no longer hidden.


I like the idea of just below the sternum; that area would never stretch too much, and touching it would be a casual, graceful and oddly masculine gesture. (and as odd as it may sound, over the liver, the great organ of secrets.) Or failing that, on the ribs, where it will always be protected.

[jothanbar.livejournal.com]

I was going to say lower-right torso (7 o'clock from the navel) but of course the potential pregnancy complicates things.

Perhaps on the right hip? It's a fairly natural resting-place for your hand, and is a fairly private place.