I was a drug abuser for many many years and lost sight of who I was and who I cared about…The tattoos across my back are like this…..The forever love tattoo was for my grandparents who died while I was in drug treatment…..The scorpio and the leo symbol are for me and my best friend with out whom I wouldnt have stayed clean…..The tiger represents the old me breaking through into the new place I want to be….

-tattedcntyprnces

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Here’s the story behind Bobo, my octopus tattoo.

From 2000 to 2005 I had chronic abdominal pain caused by endometriosis, adenomyosis and uterine fibroids. Anyone who’s had chronic pain knows that it’s hard to talk about, hard to describe. You don’t want to be complaining all the time, and you don’t want people to feel sorry for you, but it’s also important to express what you’re feeling. It’s important to communicate your state of pain to other people so you don’t feel isolated and alone in your distress.

In 2002 I started characterizing my uterus as an octopus in my abdomen — a strong force of nature who was sometimes very angry and swollen, sometimes mildly stirring, sometimes blissfully asleep or gone. I named my octopus Bobo, and it was easy to talk about her. “Bobo’s very angry today,” I’d say. Or, “Bobo’s good, she’s off somewhere else and I’m so happy for her.” People could ask me, “How’s Bobo today?” and I didn’t have to feel like they were feeling sorry for me or judging me.

Talking about Bobo was an effective way for me to talk about my pain disassociated from emotions, lighthearted, playful and irreverent. The octopus was also an effective metaphor for the types of pain I was experiencing — whether she was squeezing, spikey, radiating or whatever. Bobo the octopus wasn’t bad or mean, she was simply a strong force of nature, doing what she had to do.

In February of 2005 I had a hysterectomy — a blissful, wonderful, freeing hysterectomy. I have been pain-free since my surgery and I am so thankful for no longer living with pain and pain medications. Bobo has been free in the world, set free, and I have been given my life back.

The octopus is still a powerful symbol for me. In May 2006 I got my octopus tattoo from Sasha at Electro Lady Lux in Vancouver, BC. Sasha created the custom design, and I’m so happy with it — it’s exactly what I wanted, like Sasha was reading my mind.

-Kelly

Tattoo by Sasha at Electro Lady Lux in Vancouver, BC
www.electroladylux.com

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My father committed suicide in 1992, when I was 12. I was very close to him, and losing him so suddenly and tragically was a huge blow to my 12 year old mind. It took me years to be even able to talk about it or mention him without tearing up or getting excessively defensive.

Every August (the anniversary month of his death) I pretty much go mental…lose control of my emotions. August 2004 marked 12yrs with him, 12yrs without him, and I pretty much had a nervous breakdown. After I recovered from such a set back of healing progression, I decided that I would pay tribute to him the following year with a permanent reminder of his love and my love for him.

August 2005 came around and I realised I just couldn’t do it quite yet…it had to be the right time, not just because it marked a date, but rather because it marked a time in my life when I felt more healed. January 2006 I decided I was ready – to start a new year with a new outlook on life.

I had the tattoo placed on my back to remind myself that the past is behind me. That his love is still with me, but I can put the pain behind me forever and just remember the love and good times. It is centered on my back because he was and always will be the center of my heart, and it is at the top because I want to be able to touch it whenever I feel sad and somehow feel a connection to my daddy.

I am planning an addition to the tattoo this fall. Custom work being designed by Gene at Adrenaline (New Jersey, but he guests in Vancouver). It’s going to become a larger piece, the heart being the center of it, and more like a coat of arms style piece, incorporating aspects of my family ancestry/heritage plus images that I hold near and dear to my heart…

-Jaclyn (Jaclyn’s Aztec Tattoo)

Design: JaclynTattoo work/colour/shading: Gene at Adrenaline (Vancouver)

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I just turned 38 this April and wanted a present that was something that would be more than an average birthday gift. I felt I needed something that made my mark, and that mark had to be ink. I have been wanting a tattoo for a long time but didn’t want anything that someone else had. I needed something that was me. The reason I wanted a tat in the first place was because I love to write and felt the ink in my tattoo would be a representation of that.

I write poetry and feel that my words are forever a statement of who I am. My life, thoughts, feelings get thrown into the world and won’t be removed. So my tattoo if you look at it closely is two quills. The words “Poet Speak” is the title of one of my poems that I feel explains why I write. My favorite poet made the design for me which makes it even better. I have my permanent “River of Ink” added to my body.

-Nae

I am a female to male transsexual who has gotten sex reassignment surgery and have been on hormone replacement therapy for the past 2 years. Not only have I physically evolved, I feel as though I have experienced an emotional and intellectual transformation as well. I continue to find ways to grow as a human being through lessons I learned during my transition that pervades every aspect of my life.

I have been very active in LGBT activism and Transgender awareness in the past few years and have come across some extremely ignorant people. “Evolve.” is what I would like to say to them. The word is as much symbolic as it is a command for society as a whole to evolve into a more progressive and tolerant mindset.

-Eddie