It took me a few months to come up with this. I knew I wanted a mommy tattoo, but not the tradtional footprint or handprint. I kind of have an obsession with bird drawings (to be honest, real birds annoy me). I started searching for bird silhouettes online, and found this:
When I went to the shop, I showed the artist this picture and had him draw his own rendition of it, but with three birds. One large one representing myself, and two small ones to represent each child.
The words come from a song by Dave Matthews Band. The line goes, "When the kids are old enough, we gon' teach them to fly." This line had always struck a cord to me when it came to my kids. I've struggled with depression, self harm, and eating disorders on and off since I was 10. I felt so trapped by my feelings, and I still do at times. I don't want my kids to ever feel trapped in any way. To me, "teach them to fly" means I will try my best to teach them to always be spiritually free. Never to feel tied down by their thoughts. If they don't like how things are, change them. If they don't like the way they feel, try to better it.
So this is what my tattoo means to me. What do yours mean to you?
(Also, funny story about the direction of the large bird. The tattoo artist originally drew the bird facing the oppostie direction. I told him I wanted it facing the smaller birds. He said "Well, your tattoos are supposed to face you." I said it was supposed to represent me and my kids, and I wanted it to look like I was looking after them. He continued with "Well that's how tattoos are supposed to be." I finally told him "Look, I don't care. Just please draw the bird the other way." Why it mattered to him how my tattoo looked? I'm not sure. But I kind of wanted to hit him in the face.)
No comments:
Post a Comment