tattoos are so cool

i'm having fun studying my new tatoo on my wrist. it has 8 petals for the buddhist eightfold path on the outside 1)right knowledge 2)right thinking 3)right speech 4)right conduct 5)right livlihood 6)right effort 7)right mindfulness 8)right concentration and the symbol for "Om" is in the center which means, "Om is the one eternal syllable of which all that exists is but the development. The past, the present, and the future are all included in this one sound, and all that exists beyond the three forms of time is also implied in it". it is a sound i grew up meditating with when my mother taught me to sit crossed legged and chant. to me it means peace, presence, calm, serenity, awareness all of which come from sitting quietly.
my friend kelly and i went to 13 roses tattoo parlour and met lil' d who did our tatoos, she got the yin/yang symbol and i got the above mentioned. if you want a recommendation for a great, awesome energy, tatoo artist go to 13 roses and ask for him. his energy is amazing and calming. i was honored that he was available but then again, it always works out that we are sent to the right person in every situation.
i am so happy with the tatoo and already know i have to go back for another soon. maybe behind my ear and a small one on my ankle. that's all though. a piercing is next. someone asked me why the need for these things to be happy and i had to think hard about that, its not that i need these things to be happy, i'm happy. but i enjoy these rituals, marks of my development so to speak. 10 years ago i got a piercing after my divorce on a trip to new york with my son, now 10 years later the tatoo which ironically enough is just after my separation from my 2nd husband. i really need to stop waiting until after a split to honor my development ha ha not really. just feels like the timing is right when one chapter of your life ends and another begins, i guess i don't want the chapters to be quite so long, 10 years is a long time to honor myself and my experiences.
well, i'm off to paint a wall in my room that has been waiting for 5 weeks. i'll paint the other wall at some point, hopefully not in five weeks.