(I've been meaning to post here about this for a while but I kept putting it off, my apologies.)

I got my first tattoo on June 7th, and I'm due for a 2nd appointment to finish it very soon. It's a half sleeve, certainly not what I originally planned to get, but it just kinda... happened.

To me, getting the tattoo was almost a zen experience. The pain of the needle in my skin felt exactly like the moment when a knife parts skin. I sat for four and a half hours feeling nothing but that sensation. It was absolutely breathtaking.

I can say, without a doubt, that I'm addicted to ink now. Getting the tattoo was the ultimate therapeutic experience, and I fully intend to get much, much more ink when I can afford it.

I don't know about any of you out there, but I think this is a step in the right direction. It's also certainly a much... prettier result than cutting.

(For the record, the tattoo was based on the myth about how the tiger got his stripes, and my own habit of giving myself... stripes... unfortunately I couldn't get it over the actual harm scars on my other arm because there were fresher ones on said arm, but the day will come for that to be covered too...)