Opinion: Tattoos are awesome

By Anna Duran
Everyone has a story to tell, and pictures are worth a thousand words.
Now, we can look at a person and know a little about them because they have a piece of artwork etched into their skin.
Tattoos are a form of self-expression, and are special because they are as unique as the individuals who wear them.
Tattoos are incredibly significant to the people who buy them. They can represent major milestones like overcoming addiction, commemorate a loved one, and cover up painful scars or other, worse tattoos.
Tattoos aren’t taboo anymore, either. More and more people are getting them. Tats are no longer reserved for the Yakuza or federal convicts. They’ve moved into the worlds of sixty-year-old ladies and men of god. As the younger generation continues to influence society, there will no longer be a need to cover up.
I’ve never seen a tattoo and passed judgment on it (unless it was really really really bad – like, Steve-O’s back bad). I’ve always looked at a tattoo and wondered what possessed the wearer to get it. I see tattoos and want to know more. I’m curious that way.
I think most people are artistic by nature. Tattoos allow for an artful expression of a deep emotional connection to … anything. These are important and personal things. The stories these pictures tell can mean the world to someone.
The artistic expression draws comments and questions from other people who see them. Sometimes, I can look at a tattoo and at least think it’s pretty. Other times, I see a tattoo and I have to know what it means, especially when they are character tattoos in another language.
When people ask me about my tattoos, I’m flattered. I’m flattered because they thought enough of them to make an utterance, and it doesn’t usually matter what they said, because I love my artwork.
Aside from wanting to know about them, I respect the people who have them because I know the pain required to endure one, especially large ones. It isn’t just sitting still for an hour or four. It’s sitting still for a length of time while a needle continuously penetrates the top and most sensitive layers of the skin. I can tell you, it hurts. People who get them are brave.
People have a lot of skin, and most of it remains hidden almost all of the time. I think keeping important emotional ideas and beliefs on the surface is awesome. They enhance the peachy hues of humanity. Tats bring inner beauty out, and make it skin deep.

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