Getting inked: Before

Friday morning, I woke up and decided that it was going to happen.  I've been thinking about it for a while, researching it, trying to figure out exactly what it is that I want, because it is so darn permanent.  I have effectively put it off for long enough, I am finally going to go through with it and get a tattoo (I know, crazy).  I would be lying if I said that I'm not a little scared (what if it comes out poorly? what happens when I'm old, will I still like it? how bad is this actually going to hurt?), but I'm also super excited.
When I was younger, I thought that I would never ever get a tattoo.  I was convinced that I couldn't think of anything that I would want on my body for the remainder of my life.  On occasion, I thought about what I would get if I actually went through with it, but always came up empty.  I most certainly did not want to end up like this:

  

In high school, there was little pressure to pursue a tattoo, because very few members of my friends group had one, and the ones that did, mostly did it as part of a family tradition, so I was all set.  It wasn't until I got into college that I started noticing more and more people with tattoos that they got, just because they wanted to get one.  Some of them I liked, some of them I didn't, but I still wasn't too terribly interested in actually getting one.  Oddly enough, it wasn't until after I got out of college, that I started really thinking seriously about going through with it, but I still had no idea what I wanted.

When I came to the realization that this was actually something I wanted to pursue, I began brainstorming what it was going to be.  At first, I wanted something related to a novel, my top three choices were (in no particular order):

Great Gatsby (A staple since High School)

Looking For Alaska (All-Time Favorite Book)

Where The Wild Things Are (So good.)

I love all of those books, and they are fantastic tattoo ideas, but then I started thinking, "really, these aren't very personal for me" and if it was going to be my first one, I wanted it to be something special.  Which brought me to the train of thought "what is special to me?"  Obviously, there are many things that are important to me, but the things that stand out boldly are: family (girlfriend and close friends included), Faith, and home.  I could get something family related, but it would be kind of weird to get my brother's names tattooed on me or something, so I narrowed it down to Faith and Home.  Home became obvious to me very quickly, if this was my choice, I would get the outline of Maine (a simple, but popular idea, and reflective of where my heart is). 

Faith, however, was more difficult.  I searched for a long time for the perfect bible verse, but it was near impossible to find something that: A. Wasn't an insanely popular tattoo ("I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me") or B. Really stuck with me.  So I began looking at symbols.  After thinking about it a long time, I started thinking about what, related to my faith has been a constant from the time I was a child.  The most prominent constant that came to mind, was St. Francis of Assisi (attended St. Francis of Assisi church in Mississippi, parents are "Secular Franciscans", Chapel at Bishopswood is named after St. Francis, etc...).  As secular Franciscans, they wear a Tau around their neck, which is sort of the St. Francis version of a cross, that looks like this:

I was curious why they weren't just wearing a normal cross, so I looked into it.  It turns out, in St. Francis' art and writing, he used the Tau as a symbol of peace, and that is when it clicked: This is the one!!! Not only doe is reflect my faith, but connects to my family, Camp Bishopswood (which has been so important to me for the past 8 years), and is associated with Peace and all things good (Pax et Bonum in Latin, which will likely be added to the tattoo if all goes well).
 
I am so happy that I have waited such a long time to do it, because I really feel like this is the best possible option! So, tomorrow, it's happening!!  I'll fill you in on the details tomorrow when it's all done!