.png)
I recently got a helix piercing, part of a reclaiming of an identity I lost for 20yrs behaving and presenting appropriately in highly corporate settings. In that whole time, I removed my earlobe piercings (which had been done for so long they fortunately didn't close up), and kept my sleeves down.
I have eighteen tattoos, and, now, 3 piercings. The piercings are all in my ears, and my plan going forward is to stick to my ears, as they're easier to manage care for by touch. However, I've previously had a labret piercing and an eyebrow piercing, both between the ages of 17-19, before I started corporate work.
With my most recent piercing, I'd been feeling very run down, anxious, and depressed prior; almost as soon as I got the piercing, I felt better. This is a common experience for people who are into ink and piercings - almost as common as the intense negative reactions against both ink and piercings from those who aren't into them.
Tattoos, piercings, scarification - things that our current society deems "extreme" have actually been part of routine human experience for most, if not all, of our existence. Wounding in order to heal into community, a sacrifice of comfort for the payoff of belonging.
And that's what frightens the anti- crowd into aggressive hostility about tattoos and piercings; they are afraid of people who are comfortable with sacrifice. They don't know how to handle people who honour ritual in a world that claims nothing is or ever was sacred.
As I move into the Magician archetype, I will be moving away from regular, PAYE employment, and into full time freelancing - something I've previously only ever done alongside a full time job.
I am afraid.
But I am not beholden to my fear.
I have rites and rituals to work through the feeling of being afraid.
And yes - part of those rites will be getting new ink, and more piercings.
I have eighteen tattoos, and, now, 3 piercings. The piercings are all in my ears, and my plan going forward is to stick to my ears, as they're easier to manage care for by touch. However, I've previously had a labret piercing and an eyebrow piercing, both between the ages of 17-19, before I started corporate work.
With my most recent piercing, I'd been feeling very run down, anxious, and depressed prior; almost as soon as I got the piercing, I felt better. This is a common experience for people who are into ink and piercings - almost as common as the intense negative reactions against both ink and piercings from those who aren't into them.
Tattoos, piercings, scarification - things that our current society deems "extreme" have actually been part of routine human experience for most, if not all, of our existence. Wounding in order to heal into community, a sacrifice of comfort for the payoff of belonging.
And that's what frightens the anti- crowd into aggressive hostility about tattoos and piercings; they are afraid of people who are comfortable with sacrifice. They don't know how to handle people who honour ritual in a world that claims nothing is or ever was sacred.
As I move into the Magician archetype, I will be moving away from regular, PAYE employment, and into full time freelancing - something I've previously only ever done alongside a full time job.
I am afraid.
But I am not beholden to my fear.
I have rites and rituals to work through the feeling of being afraid.
And yes - part of those rites will be getting new ink, and more piercings.
No comments:
Post a Comment