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Tattoo
You, Tattoo Me:
"Someday you'll have to explain how someone with intelligence can do that." Such was my friend Jennifer's comment after seeing portions of my newest tribal leg tattoos sticking below my summer shorts. While I'm not at all sure that any amount of explaining why I like tats will help her or many others I've puzzled with my penchant for body ink, I will at least offer a sort of journal regarding what my own take on such a weighty life matter (not!) is. Jennifer may then decide that I'm simply not that intelligent after all. Basically, I get tats because I like 'em. Some folks dye their hair. Some wear certain clothing (such as three-piece suits w/ neckties, which to me are akin to being tortured... to each his/her own). Some folks get pierced ears, nose, eyebrows, and so forth. (Got a few piercings myself.) Some folks just shake their heads, while other folks shave 'em. But everyone messes around with their appearance. The whole complex of just what our appearance means to us, to those we wish to impress (or alienate in some cases), is buried in each individual's own heart, mind, and psyche. My own motivations for having tats, beyond the simple fact that I like them, will perhaps remain not entirely clear to me; some of my more conservative friends may worry about my spiritual / psychological health! They needn't, on this score at least. I will say that all along my own path in life I've tended to adopt the edgier cultural signifiers; long hair in the seventies, a mohawk in various forms during the eighties, pierced nose, ears and tats up to the present. Part of this has to do with a desire to be sure no one draws cultural boundaries around either me or my Christian faith; another part of it has to do with a desire to be "different," though of course when following a cultural trend you're actually conforming to someone's idea rather than necessarily being a non-comformist. That said, tattoos may actually be one of the more unique ways to create something that is "just mine" rather than a clone of someone else. A tattoo is one real way to celebrate the gift of our bodies. And I have always thought Christians underplay the wonder of embodiment, perhaps out of concern regarding sexual morality and other wrongful uses of the body. Scripture itself reflects a real concern with immorality that cannot be ignored by any serious believer. Nonetheless, the body itself was created by God; Jesus was fully embodied as a man. To celebrate the gift of our bodies by decorating them (whether with jewelry, tattoos, hairstyles, or "cool" clothing) is, I believe, pleasing to the God C. S. Lewis called "a hedonist at heart." What follows, then, is mostly not a philosophical / theological discussion on the merits or demerits for having tattoos. What follows is one man's experience getting a couple tats. And before I even get to that, I must CAUTION all readers that tattoos rightly done are absolutely safe, but tats improperly done with "recycled" or dirty needles are not safe. Folks who work from the back of a van or from their own kitchen should be avoided; Scott Miller of Macolm, Illinois' Blue Tattoo is fastidious in his care of equipment, and makes sure all customers know that their needles are both new and have been sterilized on top of that in special pressure cooker called an autoclave. Ask to see the tattooist's autoclave, and ask also when it was last tested for cleanliness--a test is supposed to be done every few months. Take a look around the place and see if it strikes you as a clean, well-kept business or as messy and dirty. If the second, bail out! If there's no autoclave, or it looks like a hunk of junk, bail out! First, a few questions I ask myself before each new tat: 1. Am I aware that any tat I get is basically there for the rest of my earthly life? Tats of your favorite rock band, current girl friend, or favorite brand name may really look silly a few years from now. (My wife's name on my chest, however, is meant to be as permanent as our marriage is!) Silly cartoon tats may really seem dumb to you later on. There's always expensive and painful laser surgery to remove such things, but wouldn't you rather think a bit before acting? 2. As a Christian, my body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, and ought to be adorned accordingly. That leaves an infinity of room for personal meanings, themes, styles, color vs. black, and so forth. As a married man with a wife of somewhat conservative tastes, I would caution young singles that even in private places, their future mate will still have to look at whatever artwork you have. Women in particular are not thrilled at violent or overtly sexual artwork, so think it through. Pray about it, even! And might I add that men who think violence and / or lust equates with maleness and makes them attractive to the feminine are sadly mistaken? A sidenote: if you got some nasty or stupid tats at some point along the way, there's an inexpensive alternative to laser surgery or the discomfort of always wearing long-sleeved shirts to cover objectionable ink. Get a good artist to design a "cover up" tat! This is a common practice, and any good tat artist may have a number of very nice abstract or even overtly Christian tattoo ideas for covering that old tat up. (Warning: there's a lot of cheesy religious tatwork that is nice in thought but terrible art-wise. Choose such work carefully.) 3a. Begin small... Just a suggestion, but if you've never had a tattoo done, don't start with a giant dragon on your back, or the complete text of the book of Revelation. Start with something simple and fairly small. That way, you can endure it if the pain is more than you expected, and you can also have time to wear around your artwork and decide if it is something you want more of or not. 3b. Begin small... but plan ahead! If you think you might want to have more than one tat, and would like them to be interrelated in some way, you might consider a certain kind of tattoo style, such as abstract tribal (my favorite) or a loose theme (say, flowers and plant tendrils around and possibly connecting various tattoos). Most folks don't end up getting more than a couple, despite the silliness that tattoos are somehow addictive due to the pain and resultant body endorphines involved. 4. Don't "judge" a tat before you know what it means; focus on what your own tat means to you and why you'd like it. A skull, for instance, could be a symbol for mortality and remind its wearer that this life is fleeting while the life to come is everlasting. A spider may seem satanic to some, but others find it a gentle, fragile creature that symbolizes their own feeling of vulnerability. While I wouldn't want a skull tat, I leave it to others to choose theirs rather than me being a tat pope. Christian-wise, choosing one's tat is best done from (a) what's honoring to your body as God's dwelling place, (b) personally pleasing to you visually, (c) has meaning to you that will last as long as the tat does! Oh, and (d) makes you smile! And for evangelists, the power of a tat to lead into a conversation about the Lord shouldn't be underestimated. 5. Am I being a good steward of my money? Tats are fairly expensive, depending on who is doing them and where it is being done (tattoo parlours in big cities usually charge more than small towns). As a believer, I realize that my money shouldn't all be spent on this mortal body, whether in clothes, jewelry, or tattoos. Balance is key; remembering the poor and living modestly in all ways should be a part of every Christian's life. God wishes us joy, but also asks of us obedience. Under the Gun Getting a tattoo is an interesting experience. Just how interesting depends on where it is on the body, how big the artwork is, and how good your tattooist is. Oh, and how much pain equals too much pain for you personally. The first tattoo was a while ago for me; I've quite a few at this point. It was quite easily endured, a simple tribal pattern on my shoulder that nonetheless due to all the black areas required quite a bit of "filling in" and took three hours to finish. It turns out that the orchid I have above my heart with my wife's name next to it was the most painful one I've had to date -- maybe there's something symbolic about that? (Are soft strains of "love hurts" playing in the background?) The silhouette of my Savior on my back -- reminding me of the Flannery O'Conner story "Parker's Back" -- hurt a lot as well, at least in part because the tattooist's tat gun was messing up on her. Most tattooists know where basic areas of greater and lesser nerve endings are, and will fill you in if you ask.
Another contributor to greater or lesser pain is the number of needles in the "bundle" the tat gun carries. Interestingly, as a rule the greater the number of needles, the less pain there is. In the case of my tattoos, the outlines of them were usually done with either 5 pin or 7 pin guns. Filling in, however, was done with anything from a 5 to a 14 pin gun. The difference was illustrated to me when on my right leg I recieved a large tribal. Scott of Blue Tattoo used a fourteen pin setup to fill it in, and we happily chatted away as he worked; at times the feeling actually was more like a massage of my leg than something unpleasant. But just a week later, when I did my second leg tat (a mirror image of the first) Scott turned over the fill-in to a trusty cohort, Mike, who as an apprentice only knew how to use a seven pin gun. The process took over four hours, at least an hour and a half longer than the identical tat on the other leg, and I was just hanging in there! Definitely not for the faint of heart. My wife, Carol Elaine, is far, far more conservative than I am or have ever been. But her love for God is radical, and her love for her odd man likewise. So, when she offhandedly mentioned to Scott, Dan, and Mike of Blue Tattoo that she'd like someday to get matching tattoo rings for herself and I, they actually offered to do 'em for free on the spot. Actually, they explained that it was Mike's birthday, so for him they'd give us the tattoos. Go figure! The Alpha-Omega symbols, a cross, and our initials (on each other's fingers) made up the basic design, co-worked by Dan and my wife.
Taking Care of a Tattoo How about aftercare of new tattoos? It's a fairly simple thing, but cannot be ignored. First, any good tattooist will clean and apply antiseptic ointment to the tattoo as he/she is creating it. It gives you a break, and is soothing as well as intelligent health-wise. Second, once the tat is done, the tattooist will clean it up and apply another coat of ointment, then cover it with a piece of cellophane or soft tissue (cellophane is preferrable, as soft tissue can merge with the tattoo and mess things up if not removed soon after application). Third, most tattoo artists will give you a printed sheet and/or verbal instructions on tat care. Since you may not be fully absorbing their verbal instructions, ask for a printout as well if they don't offer one. Here is an excellent one you can print out for yourself. A short version of my own follows here: A. Don't immediately take a shower with your new tat. Give it a few days before immersing / lengthily spraying it with water. Yet you must keep it clean! Touch it only with hands that have been washed, as otherwise you can provoke infection and slow healing. B. Buy a tube of A&D Ointment (available at drug stores in the baby supplies section usually) and apply it liberally to the tat over the first three to seven days. Don't just gob more and more on top of the previous coats; gently wipe off the old application with a damp, soft cloth, taking care not to scrub or rub hard the tat's surface. Apply more ointment after cleaning away the old. Soap shouldn't be used for the first few days on the tat. C. After using the A&D Ointment for the first few days, switch to an unscented, unmedicated body lotion, as some scents may irritate the still-tender skin of your tattoo. D. After a week or so of two to four times a day applications of body lotion, you may stop. Remember, as the tat heals it will also tend to scab in spots; picking at these healing scabs may seem pleasant, but it will quite possibly mar your tattoo and just possibly scar you as well. Let things heal at their own speed.
Here's the completed tattoo on my right leg, photographed by Dan of Blue Tattoo. It should be ntoed that there is usually a very slight fading of the tat once it heals up, but a good tat should look almost as bright later as it does in the tat shop. Email me and tell me "Dude, you are NUTS!" or "Cool tats" or "You pagan heretic!" More
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