First up is Caitlin from
Waking Life:
It was the summer after I graduated from college, and I was working nights as a waitress in Kenmore Square (outside Fenway Park in Boston). I spent most of my days eating cheese and drinking margaritas on my little balcony, reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and Simone de Beauvoir's short stories. I had been toying with the idea of getting a tattoo for some time, not very seriously (I knew my mother would be devastated), but one weekend my friend Bonnie told me that she was going to go to Providence (RI) to get a complex celtic knot/tree of knowledge tattoo from a friend of a friend. So I decided to go with her! We took the train out to Providence, I showed the artist a sketch, and voila!
In brief, the symbol represents the Absolute. The divine energies of everything that exists, beyond the realm of understanding with body and/or intellect, culminate in the Ultimate Truth that all is One--everything is connected. It represents a profundity so complex that it can only appear as a symbol. To perfectly utter the intonation during meditation is to become one with the pulse & vibrations of the Universe and subsequently to feel those vibrations resonate in your very soul.
Although I could never call myself Hindu (or subscribe to any "religion" as such), it does make the most sense to me from a metaphysical standpoint. I am fascinated by the ways in which science and religion collide and complement each other... I'm sure that the only possibility for a true modern "religion" must be an amalgamate of current Eastern theology, metaphysics and quantum theory.
As for the script? It's (half of) a quote from de Beauvoir's brilliant book, "The Mandarins." The full quote:
"All around me the world lies like an immense hypothesis I no longer verify."
I like that it reinforces the meaning of the AUM, and although I chose not to use the entire sentence I think the immensity of the world is implied in those first six words. It does suggest a level of egocentricity, which was unintentional but does make sense because of my personal struggle to comprehend the complexity of the world that surrounds me and my inability to come to any concrete conclusions (and resignation to the fact that I never will, that life is a mystery but we should just simply enjoy and appreciate the fact that we are living).
When I'm in a bad mood (never happens!), the dark side of the double-entendre suggests that nothing is true or real (and is, in fact, lying).
Second is Suyen from
Because I Love Random Things:
One of my brothers, Lee, passed away back in 2005 and in his memory, my other brothers and I decided to get the same tattoo he designed himself which he had on his arm. I decided to add stars to mine at the last minute to "intertwine" my life with Lee. If you read it from one side, you can make out Lee and if you read it on the other side, you can make out 337(337 is LEE upside down) which was his pen name of sorts outside of his personal life (He was an artist).
I have 3 other tattoos but I still have to find decent pictures of those!
And last is Audrey from
homerunballerina:
i got this tattoo new years day, 2009. i was in the middle of culinary school at the french culinary institute and i knew i'd finally found my "thing" - i'd been debating between a few, like a fork on one side and a knife on the other, but i wanted something decidedly pastry and, i decided, french. i've always love typographic tattoos, so i when i visited chicago (where i lived for five years) for the holiday, i went into my friend's shop and had him draw up the word for me. i sat down right then to do it - it took ten minutes and didn't hurt at all, and i absolutely love it. my parents are another story!
If you want to be included in the next round-up, just email me (futurelint at gmail dot com) with a photo of you and a photo of your tattoo (or tattoos)! Include a little what, where, when, why type description and a link to your blog!
