The Writing’s on the Wall

I have been writing in other ways lately. In my head mainly – thinking that I need to get in down on the page; paper or computer! Decorating has been taking up some of my time and ever since I was little, I have loved writing messages on the wall. Onto the bare, un-papered wall may I add! (Not to the newly decorated blank canvas!)

I guess the modern version of this is the quote transfers you can get to add as a personal touch. I love this idea, as any excuse to add more words to my life!! But, no I am talking about the hidden messages, that lie under the wall paper, leaving messages for the beyond. I  dream of people discovering my messages years later and trying to guess what certain kind of person I am/was (and my crazy family of course!) I think the other main reason, that I love to write messages on the wall, is that I get an urge when I see a completely blank surface and have to put something on it!

I would like to say that it all started with a rebellious childhood, where I naughtily crayoned onto my parents’ pristine walls. But no, I stuck to paper – and usually stuck inside the lines too (the good girl I was)….. and when decorating happened, I was encouraged to write my little thoughts and pictures on the wall. So, maybe it is a case of, if you are allowed to do something anyway, you don’t rebel against it. Another example being, I was allowed a sip of alcohol whenever I would like one as I was growing up – meaning I didn’t rebel and go out and get drunk on the streets as soon as the teen years hit! (mmm…. no, we did it properly and went to bars and pubs underage !)

So yes, my old bedroom is littered with messages from the ages. And since we decorated quite a few times whilst I was growing up, I got to see my old messages. A bit like my younger self writing to my older self. (reminds me of my old post:https://samanthagray9.wordpress.com/2012/11/03/to-my-14-year-old-self/).

As we decorated our living room recently, I wanted to continue this childhood tradition. Honestly, me and my sis would draw whole muriels and write numerous things on it – so that every inch was covered!  I don’t think we will decorate our living room again – as we hope to move on eventually. But I hope whoever discovers these messages, has a laugh reading them – just as we did writing them!

The teenage boy’s quote. One word sums up life: bacon!

 

Adding to the confusion of future decorating!

Tattoos: Too Tatty?

Tattoos are things that people rarely sit on the fence about. They are bit like marmite; people love them or hate them!  People can go a little bit crazy with them… and my rule is: if there is more ink than skin, then that ain’t a good look! And as for having people’s names tattooed – a bit boring, unoriginal and could result in disaster. You don’t want to get divorced and have to have a stain removed off your skin amongst everything else. I know, some people have their children’s names tattooed and not just partners – and children are for life like tattoos etc – -but to that I say: Do you really need a reminder every time you look at your arm of what your kids’ names are?!

‘Ah yeh, Abigail, Beth and Harry, my 3 kids, thank god I had them ingrained into my skin for hangover days when I can’t even remember my name, let alone my kids’!’

Mmmmm…… that’s what post-it notes are for  😉 But seriously, even when I have kids I won’t want their names on my arm/shoulder/back. I will love them but I’d rather look at them than at an inky representation of them. And if having kids is like what I’ve heard, then when I finally get a break from them, I won’t want that red ink screaming up at me and reminding me of Sammy junior’s tantrum that morning. (I won’t seriously call my child Sammy Junior, I promise!)

Because, that’s the thing isn’t? Tattoos are for life; not just for that wild, impulsive day you wanted to be ‘young’ again. They become a part of you forever. many people say that they will look awful when you are older and wrinkle up. Well, my response to that is: our whole body will wrinkle up, but with a tattoo we have a souvenir and a reminder of the  ‘good’ old days and we remember why we had it and the person we were then. That’s what I’m hoping anyway……

I have a tattoo. I must be one of the only people to have a tattoo and have absolutely no piercings! I don’t even have my ears pierced. Never been fond of having holes drilled into me – whether they can heal up or not. But I do see tattoos as a form of art and when I left University, my housemate  and I decided to get a tattoo to reflect that part of our lives. It was to signify the end of University life – the last ‘crazy’ thing we would do. (Now though, 6 years later – I know, it wasn’t the last crazy thing I did 😉 ) It was all very thought out and we went to a Tattoo parlour to look at designs, we tried to create our own, we asked around and finally a few weeks later we  had them. I had:

The feminism/female symbol: One friend did joke once; ‘Have you had this so people know you are a girl?!’

 

It is the symbol for feminism and naturally used for women and females a lot too. I  studied feminism a lot at University as part of my English degree. I considered myself a feminist at Uni and also, as I left, I was a strong, confident woman waiting for the  next life step. So, for me, it was the perfect tattoo to get. Do I regret it? No… my only regret is that I didn’t get a bigger version of the symbol! I was such a wimp and so worried that it would a.) go wrong b.) I would regret it …. that I opted for it as small as possible. So, people need a magnifying glass to see it, but it is there! The plus point of this…. when I am older, I won’t be able to see it anyway! 😉 haha.

One reason people are put off- is the pain. I am the biggest wimp. I don’t even like tweezing my eyebrows! This didn’t hurt. That may be because it is a tiny dot of ink 😉 and also because  it is on a fleshy part of my back too. So it depends what you have an where – and what you are prepared to go through.

My boyfriend hates tattoos and didn’t want me to have it. He was on holiday in Austria at the time. I spoke to him briefly on the phone the day before and he was not impressed! But since, it was a feminist tattoo, I was going for, I thought it would be kind of ironic if my boyfriend stopped an independent woman doing what she wanted to do 😉 So I had it. And I love it. It is on my back an I can show it off and hide it when I want to too. I love telling people that I have it, because people always seem shocked. I have no piercings as I said above; I am quite conventional in most ways; I am a book geek. My tattoo is my piece of wild 😉

It was a radio show that inspired me to write this. They were asking listeners what made them want a tattoo and why they chose what they had etc. The one  woman I heard had all her grandchildren on her arm – yawn. But she did say that when you have  one, you do want more and this part I agree with. When I turn 30, I want another one to reflect that part of my life. Another small symbol I think – that can keep my other lonely one company 🙂

Some questions to leave with you:

• Do you have one? Would you have one?

• What do you think of children’s/people’s names on them?

• And… what can I have for my next one?!

 

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