Welcome!

Welcome to Eternal Tats! A place to share images, ideas, and stories of you and your body art. Even if you don't have a tattoo, but you have a story to tell, or you're planning on getting one in the near future, please feel free to join in on the discussion.

I will start by sharing my own story. It was in 2003, during my senior year in high school and I knew once I turned 18 I wanted to get a tattoo. At the time I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted, but I began thinking about it immediately. It was a very exploratory time for me (but really, when does that ever end?), reading up on various subjects and opening my mind to new things. One thing I was particularly interested in was philosophy and some of the more intriguing religions/belief systems such as buddhism and hinduism. I thought that would be a good place to start, so I began researching symbols used by these religions, and came across one that really stood out to me.

It was the hindu symbol for 'om' (or Aum)(mediation is probably what first comes to mind). It represents Brahman or the Absolute, "omnipotent, omnipresent, and the source of all manifest existence." Which, to me, is what the essence of the universe is. (Here is a good explanation of the meaning in further detail: http://hinduism.about.com/od/omaum/a/meaningofom.htm)

 I also knew I wanted to design part of the tattoo design myself, so I began experimenting with different geometric patterns. After a few hundred trial and error attempts, I was finally satisfied. Of course now years later, I realized the geometric design I thought was entirely original and unique was in fact not, as I've started seeing similar patterns around. After I decided on the final design, 4 months after my 18th birthday, I went to the local tattoo shop with my dad (having several himself), and had it done that day. It was a very cool experience, one I'll never forgot.

I'm still very pleased with it, though I wish I had done a little more thinking on the actual design itself, but it is afterall my first tat, so a few rushed choices will be made I suppose. I've posted a picture of it in my profile when I first got it, and also there's a more recent pic in the group image gallery, for those who care to see it. I'm currently planning my next one which I'm hoping to get done this summer. I won't go into much detail right now, but I should have a post about that in the next few weeks, so keep an eye out.

I hope this has inspired others to join this group and share their own stories of getting inked (hopefully a lot better and more meaningful than my own). Looking forward to hearing about them...

Peace, love & tats!

~achip~