The Capitial-T Truth about the Tattoos

It occurred to me the other day, actually the day after I got my tattoos, that not everyone would understand why I got the tattoos in the first place nor would they understand what they meant. For some reason this hit hard, and probably because it was something I should have thought of before I got the tattoos. But i didn't. I was in such a one track mind. I wanted the ink. I wanted the permanence on my body. I wanted the art.

 The first tattoo I got was a simple wave on my wrist. I knew getting it on my wrist would mean that many more people saw it, it's the easier of the tattoos to explain, because in passing conversation the wave represents my love for the ocean, my love for water. But in a deeper and more authentic conversation, the wave itself is a symbol for the ocean which in turn is a symbol for the metaphor of comparing people on earth to the drops of water that make up the ocean. Philisophically there seems to be an infinite number of drops of the ocean with one of the biggest factors differentiating them is each one's salty-ness (haha). And really, the same goes for people in the world. At times it feels like you make little difference in the world becuase there are just so many other drops of water, but every single drop of water creates a ripple effect in the ocean. Every drop of water is part of the eb and flow of the ocean. All drops, no matter how salty, really do matter. And if the only reason they matter is just to be apart of the ocean, than that should be enough because the ocean is a pretty majestic thing to be apart of. Overall, its just a reminder that being part of this really majestic thing called life is always worth it when I start to get too exsestential with myself. Putting it on my wrist wasn't just because I could take cool pictures with it.






 The second tattoo I got was a quote from the commmencmence speech written by the late David Foster Wallace, it reads "This is water". Even in the time I could take to describe exactly what it means to me, it still wouldn't compare to the person I was explaining it to actually reading the speech and then talking to me about it. So honestly, I'm not even going to begin to say what this tattoo is all about.
"This is water" - David Foster Wallace
Mostly what I can say about this tattoo is that I got this for myself. For now, this tattoo means what the speech means to me. The timing at which I got the tattoo is coiencidental with the passing of a dear friend of mine. This brings me back to the beginning of this post. What I didn't know, but now do, is that a lot of people think I got this tattoo to commemorate my friend. This, for some reason, dumb founded me. I guess it was just one of those things that was so obvious to me that I didn't even think about the different interpretations it could have. I think its sweet others would think I got this in memory of my friend, but I also think others don't know the pain the passing of my friend has caused me.

In any case, and any interpretation others may have, it won't bother me and I think it will provide for interesting conversation in the least.
To quote another friend who quoted this to me from a stranger "People get tattoos for one of two reasons: 1. To make a statement to others. 2. To make a statement to themselves."