As a member of Gen X, I take a bit of pride in the fact that at the tender young age of 52, I am still “a tattoo virgin.” There was a time when tattoos were so nonconformist, so counterculture, that they truly were an expression of individuality. But when there are 900 million people walking around the planet with ink, it kind of loses a little bit of its edge. Because tattoos went from being counterculture to totally mainstream, I recently wrote a post about why I would erase tattoos from history entirely.
However, if I were to get a tattoo, the first thing I’d probably choose is the Detroit Tigers’ Olde English ‘D’ logo. I love the fact that I’m from the Detroit area, and even though I lived in South Carolina for about eight years, I’ve always felt like Detroit is my home. I’d choose this logo because not only does it represent the Tigers—my all-time favorite baseball team—but in the late ’90s, when Eminem rose to fame, he made it popular to refer to Detroit as “The D.” As such, wearing that ‘D’ became a badge of honor (or at least led to plenty of copyright-infringement variations).
The other tattoo I would seriously consider is my all-time favorite quote from The Aeneid: “Fortune favors the bold.” It’s a credo by which I’ve tried to live my life. But the truth is, I don’t need it permanently etched on my skin as a constant reminder; that’s just how I choose to live. Nor do I really need an Olde English ‘D’ on my arm to remind me that I’m a Tigers fan. I think that’s part of the reason I’ve never done it—I just have a hard time rationalizing spending that kind of money on something permanent that I’m going to wear for the rest of my life.
It’s funny, because I’m pretty sure most of the women I’ve dated over the years have had at least one tattoo, if not multiple. Heck, even kid 1 has a few tattoos now himself. But I think there’s something to be said for remaining ink-free at this point in my life.
Maybe being ink-free says a lot more about me than I realize. I’ve always felt that if I’m going to have a tattoo, it has to be something sacred—something I genuinely want as part of my body forever. Aside from kid 1 and kid 2, I don’t know that there’s much else in my life I consider sacred enough to literally become my skin.
Well, maybe one thing. When I wrote about why I’d wipe tattoos from history entirely, I noted that if I did make an exception, it would be for the red fist logo I use for the blog—preferably in a clean, simple stencil version. It’s iconic, it carries a mountain of meaning, and it has quietly become a totem for this particular era of my life.
I remember when I first went through my divorce from X1, I actually talked about getting a tattoo to honor kid 1—maybe even a portrait on my shoulder. Then, after splitting up with X2, it occurred to me that had I done that, I would have felt obligated to get one for kid 2 on the opposite shoulder, too.
People often get tattoos and later regret them, paying for painful laser removal or cover-ups because the ink no longer represents who they are. But for me, maybe the blog is my tattoo. I don’t mind looking back at old posts to see where my brain was at a specific moment in time—even if I cringe a little bit when an ancient post still pulls in daily hits. The blog is the marker that I was here, that I mattered, and that I did the work. The only difference is that it’s written on a digital screen, allowing me to evolve instead of trapping me in the past.
The last few months of my life have been about massive internal changes. Maybe some of that internal shift will start to manifest itself externally as well. I guess what I’m trying to say is: I won’t completely rule out ever getting a tattoo. But until then, I’ll keep writing.
Rebuilding a life takes grit, consistency, and a lot of ‘Option C’ thinking. Having crossed the 1,000-day milestone, I’m now charting the territory beyond. The mission remains the same: No glitz. Just the work. New to the blog? Start your journey here to see the blueprint and the ‘Tricorder’ perspective behind the rebuild.
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The article “the digital tattoo“ first appeared on Rebuilding Rob.
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