A tattoo is worth a thousand words

I'm so happy that on Friday, December 4th 2009, I got my first tattoo! It symbolizes everything about who I am and where I am at this moment in life; yet it hasn't really sunk in for me that this is a permanent fixture on my body for the rest of time. I'm beyond elated. The whole process of getting it done was as beautifully meaningful for me as it was to plan and draw it. I knew I was an adrenaline junkie, with my sky-diving, bungee-jumping, roller coaster-loving ways... but it never occurred to me that getting a tattoo would be equally exhilarating.

During the whole 2 hours that I was getting it done, I lost all sense of time and was able to meditate myself into a Happy Gilmore-inspired "happy place": a New Zealand field full of orange flowers. I also somehow talked up a storm with my best friend Adriana who came with me, and my amazing tattoo artist named L about our world travel experiences. While I was intermittently cursing at McDonalds and Walmart, and lecturing them on how the brown in Africa's Sub-Saharan desert would unfortunately grow in our lifetime due to climate change, I venture to say it was a spiritual experience for me. I feel like I've finally branded myself as a hippie, which is why I surprised myself when the first thing I thought when it was done and I was admiring it in the mirror was, "I'm ready to learn how to ride a motorcycle!" :)

I'd been thinking about getting it done for exactly one year, which is the time someone told me to wait to make sure that I still really want it. I devoted the back page of my journal to writing out what the various elements of the flower design on my right ankle mean to me, and gradually added to it as the year went by... a classically Cassie thing to do, since I love planning and list-making. Here's a condensed and exceedingly corny list of why it's meaningful to me... enjoy!

1) Flowers symbolize consciousness, awareness and enlightenment. The beauty of God's creation. "I am." They're also feminine, which represents my passion for women's health and rights.

2) The center of the flower is a circle, a powerful and essential symbol which to me symbolizes social change through accepting our individuality, appreciating diversity in others, and embracing our equality as human beings. It's also the earth, which is kind of self-explanatory, but which for me symbolizes my desire to increase global consciousness.

3) On the side of the circle/earth, between the U.S. and Latin America, is a small bee flying clock-wise. This reminds me of my simplest life goal... "to be." :) Or, "Be(e) the change you wish to see in the world" -Gandhi

4) Leaves of the flower are an 8/ infinity sign, and there's 8 petals. In case you can't tell, that's my favorite number.

5) Petals of the flower are mango-colored, my hands-down favorite fruit as anyone who's traveled with me in a tropical country will undoubtedly confirm. I loved that my tattoo artist had a mango for lunch that day and actually used "mango-colored ink."

6) Stem of the flower is blue/green-colored, which I've been told is the color of my aura and represents creativity. I loved that we spent a good hour talking about our auras, how my tattoo artist's aura is purple, and the fact that we were all wearing purple sweaters.

7) Roots serve to ground me, since I tend to be really idealistic and need gentle reminders to stay connected to reality.

8) Placement is on my right foot, for my "right foot forward," goal-oriented personality. And since it's behind my ankle, it grows when I flex my muscle... just like we all grow in life when we exert ourselves. :)