11 things about tattoos
I decided what my next tattoo is going to be, quite by accident. It just kind of found me, which makes it feel right. Mani was scrolling on Pinterest the other night. At one point, I happened to glance over at her at spotted an image that caught my eye. Can you send that to me?
I love symbolism. I have two tattoos. The first was a gift from my dear friend Miv eight years ago. I was thirty-eight, in a brand new relationship with myself, and doing the work to stay centered and steady amidst of sweeping life changes. I got a small rainbow anchor near my right hip bone. It mostly stays hidden, a private reminder of a momentous period of my life.
The other is on my upper left arm, a red-tailed hawk feather with the Hebrew word aya beneath it, three letters — aleph, yod, and heh. I half-joked that getting one of Mani’s Hebrew names inked on my body felt like a bigger commitment than marriage, and I suppose in some ways it was. The artist did a beautiful job.
Aviva and I plan to get semi-matching tattoos next fall, to mark and celebrate her 18th birthday. We have a simple design in mind, that involves each other’s Hebrew names with her lettering. As she pointed out last night over dinner, we have been talking about this since she was 14. How is that possible? Now I feel like I should spit three times over my left shoulder, to ward off the evil eye. Pooh pooh pooh.
Back to this hand-holding image… I kept going back to look at it. I found it beautiful in its simplicity. And the more I considered it, I also found that it holds for me symbolism around interdependence — as opposed to codependence. The hands are clasped, but each is also growing and blooming individually.
Mani told me this morning that her first thought when she saw it was Ram Dass, of blessed memory. We are all just walking each other home.
An hour after we had that conversation this morning, I emailed Patrick to ask him how far out he is booking. I haven’t heard back yet but will give it a few days before reaching out to a different artist. I’m going to get it on my left forearm.
Yesterday, I asked folks on Facebook to share photos of their tattoos. You probably won’t find it surprisingt that my favorite part is hearing the stories behind them.
There is something about being found by an image, a poem, a song, in just the right moment.
Wait, aren’t tattoos taboo for Jews? Like most things Jewish, it depends who you ask. One Reform rabbi, Rochelle Tulik, wrote her entire rabbinic thesis offering a new perspective on this. Read an excerpt from The Illustrated Jew. She also offers some FAQs.
Grateful for this aging, changing body.