Tattoo Alignment

I got my first tattoo at the age of 45 to remind me of something I was afraid I would forget, not knowing that grief imprints itself on you just as permanently as ink.

“What is grief, if not love that endures?”

I had been thinking of my second tattoo for years since, nine years in fact. What should it say? What experience should I encapsulate? What should it be? Not because I’ll forget, but because tattoos are merely a perpetual mark of significance securing yourself in a moment in time. It’s not about what others see in it but how the alchemy of your body translates the ink, capturing the emotion like art.

grief with a capital G has hit once again, and there is no time for pause; I am walking right into the fire. And what I see there has been nothing short of revolutionary. My world isn’t on fire; I am the fire. God has reserved and preserved me for this time and place, creating change, burning down my life to make space for new. It has never been more clear that the time is now for change, and it has never been more clear what my next tattoo should be. A flame of reds, yellows, oranges, and blues capturing the hottest part on its way to complete combustion.

Besides, look how it matches my new dress! Did the dress find me, or did I find the dress? What came first? the chicken or the egg? It doesn’t matter; how will you choose to live and continue to shine your light on the world despite the circumstances? I found this prayer from an anonymous source that provides all the answers I need:

Lord, I don’t know where to go from here,

I don’t know how to process this,

I don’t know what to do with these emotions,

I don’t know how to handle this situation,

but you know.

I lay this and all things at your feet.