Help me understand - Question about tattoos…

I got both of mine after 50. It wasn’t what I got as much as why. I lived my first 50 years for everyone else. Although I still look after many people these days, it’s my choice now, not others expectations. Tattoos were the beginning. No regrets!

I can see that side of it. And if I chose to link the bad moments and thoughts with what I’ve chosen to adorn my skin, I never would’ve gotten them. But instead I focused on the strength represented in my tattoos. The simple word “Strength” on the back of my shoulder to make me feel like my mother is watching over me. The two tattoos my dad drew with his own hand, one right on top of the veins on my wrist so every heartbeat I have can somehow make a part of him live on. The Celtic tree etched in between my shoulder blades to symbolize my ancestors who made it possible for me to even be here.

I wanted art to connect me with my loved ones who are no longer here, and for me it was an easy decision to capture their radiance through this art form. I can’t run my fingertip over a memory and feel its warmth, but I can run my fingertip over the tattoo on my skin and smile as the warmth of a loved one’s signature is artistically left behind.

In many human cultures the skin is believed to provide a path between the physical body and the spiritual world. So symbols might be chosen for good luck or safety - think of the anchor worn by many sailors. That said, my dad was a sailor but refused a tattoo for fear of needles and infections.

Ditto. I relate. I get why some do it. But there is nothing that is so important to me as to perma mar my skin with it. I prefer my skin pure. No piercing's either. I have many others ways I can represent, express or visit what has deeper meaning to me.

I have one. It's pretty small and it's hidden. It's a symbol that has a couple of meanings that I lean in to as a person. I even got it on a symbolic date. It all lined up and when certain things line up I pay attention. And the reality is I don't even think about it anymore.I don't look at it and ponder the meaning. But if you're curious I'd say do it for yourself and not for others. Because a lot of people get them because they want to be viewed a certain way. That's their call but I would imagine there's more regrets taking that path.

I am the same. I can't think of anything that means so much to me as to tattoo on my skin. I don't feel a need to create an outward representation of an event or belief. I don't use bumper stickers and any other visual images to project myself.

First of all I’ve made sure that my tattoos are classy and timeless and have a meaning to me which won’t fade with life. I plan on more in the future and will continue keeping it down the same lane.

I am not a lover of tattoos, especially when they are so prominent that they seem to assault the eye.

Best kept to places where they are only discovered by intimate acquaintances - just my opinion.

I'm also without tattoos but the best explanation I ever heard was that people like seeing their own story on their body and a stupid tattoo you got when you are twenty is still about who you were when you were twenty. I get that.

In my case, I have only gotten things tattooed on me that I know will be important to me forever

For not having any....

In my youth I pondered on getting a tattoo, then came to the conclusion after sometime.
If God wanted me to have a tattoo, I would have been born with it.

I don't have that many but if i could do it over i wouldn't have any now.

New research also indicates tattoos seem to harm the lymphatic and immune systems

https://www.sciencealert.com/tattoos-affect-your-immune-system-in-ways-were-only-beginning-to-understand