Inked and proud
You've heard the saying, "Don't judge a book by it's cover." However, judging is what society bases all of it's important decisions on as of late. We are all guilty of doing this; I am as much as the next person. Sometimes we need to be put in line and told that we are wrong in doing so. Today, I will talk about one of the biggest issues we as a society have when it comes to judging others. We are too quick to judge people who look different from us.
This has happened to me and my loved ones many times, and always for different reasons. Our big reason, however, is walking around with our tattoos and piercings out in the open.
Now I know that this is a very talked about issue and everyone has a different opinion of it. But let me shed some personal light on the subject.
My family is a family of tattooed people. Now that does not mean that everyone in my family is covered from head to toe in ink. This just means that each of us has at least one tattoo on our bodies. And they mean something very special to each one of us.
My sister, Kim, was practically covered in them. She came home with a new one every day it seemed and she was judged many times by this.
Although she looked to others like she was a delinquent, she was the kindest person with the biggest heart you would ever meet. See? Looks are not always correct.
A lot of strangers that I meet have no idea that I have tattoos and piercings. Mine are hidden under clothing most of the time. Sometimes in situations I am treated differently when people find out about them and I am either known as a "heathen" or as a, excuse my language, "badass."
Neither one of these labels actually make me feel good. I look at people and want to say, "I am the same person you were talking to five minutes ago. Nothing had changed in the last five minutes other than me taking off my jacket."
Not every single person who has a tattoo is going to attack you or steal your things. The reason I, myself, and a lot of my friends even get them is because we like to express what we love, pay respects to loves we've lost, or simply let our bodies be canvases to beautiful art.
Every tattoo and piercing tells a different story. They tell of someone's strengths, weaknesses, loves, and losses. Some even have more than one story attached to them. The fact that some people are brave enough to wear their most personal and deepest thoughts and feelings on their skin for the entire world to see is not stupid, it's bravery.
This has happened to me and my loved ones many times, and always for different reasons. Our big reason, however, is walking around with our tattoos and piercings out in the open.
Now I know that this is a very talked about issue and everyone has a different opinion of it. But let me shed some personal light on the subject.
My family is a family of tattooed people. Now that does not mean that everyone in my family is covered from head to toe in ink. This just means that each of us has at least one tattoo on our bodies. And they mean something very special to each one of us.
My sister, Kim, was practically covered in them. She came home with a new one every day it seemed and she was judged many times by this.
Although she looked to others like she was a delinquent, she was the kindest person with the biggest heart you would ever meet. See? Looks are not always correct.
A lot of strangers that I meet have no idea that I have tattoos and piercings. Mine are hidden under clothing most of the time. Sometimes in situations I am treated differently when people find out about them and I am either known as a "heathen" or as a, excuse my language, "badass."
Neither one of these labels actually make me feel good. I look at people and want to say, "I am the same person you were talking to five minutes ago. Nothing had changed in the last five minutes other than me taking off my jacket."
Not every single person who has a tattoo is going to attack you or steal your things. The reason I, myself, and a lot of my friends even get them is because we like to express what we love, pay respects to loves we've lost, or simply let our bodies be canvases to beautiful art.
Every tattoo and piercing tells a different story. They tell of someone's strengths, weaknesses, loves, and losses. Some even have more than one story attached to them. The fact that some people are brave enough to wear their most personal and deepest thoughts and feelings on their skin for the entire world to see is not stupid, it's bravery.
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