Zia'd

Zia
Originally uploaded by Czech Girl.

Hm. Well, I have gone through several phases, each increasingly shorter...all leading to yesterday, affectionately called "The Day of the Ink."

The first phase was easy. Steph and I made a bit of a pact to get tattoos together when she returned from Africa. This was about 3 years ago, and it popped up in my mind occasionally during those years. Enough that I had kind of an idea of the design I wanted.

Then Steph came back and we talked about it a little, though I wasn't sure it was going to happen. I did attempt to solidify my design choice, however.

Then, all of the sudden...now was the time to do it. I realized that while I had chosen a Zia sun with 3 rays on each side, I had no clue where I wanted it. Enter another bout of agonized decision making...equally important as "what?" is "WHERE?" For real. Once I arrived at my inside ankle area as being suitable (both visible and concealable), I was ok again.

Then...we actually MADE APPOINTMENTS. Enter total freak out mode. What will my parents think? What will other people think? Will I regret it immediately? Will I regret it in 20 years? Will it HURT? Will I cry?

I did not sleep well the night before. Then, they called to reschedule our evening appointment to the next day...postponing it further and causing yet another night of restless slumber. The next morning I ate some cereal, Steph and Joaquin came to pick me up, and I had a queasy feeling in my stomach the whole way there, while signing the permission form, and while sitting in the chair (like a dentist chair except...cooler).

We met Alex, our tattoo artist, a very nice guy and who actually had my zia all drawn out for me ahead of time in the perfect size! Yes. I liked that. So he got his ink and his needle-y thing all ready and I braced myself for the worst. The motor starts whirring, and suddenly..a little poking on my skin. Hm. Not so bad at all. Hey, I can handle this.

At this point, I'm not sure whether it was the sudden adrenaline release or what, but I realized I was happy with my decision and happy I was in the company of two lifelong friends, who would always remain so even if we aren't going to be in the same state for much longer. Alex went over the design about 4 times, and the 3rd time hurt the most. I cringed, but no crying. Phew. Steph and I traded places and she got her awesome inking done...and off we trekked into the world, with a little bit more to us than when we went in. Aftercare seems pretty simple as mine is so tiny, it's a bit red and there is a little bruising around it...otherwise, no problem! People, including my parents, seem ok with it. It all turned out ok.

I got a zia because I plan to be leaving New Mexico very soon, but we're not parting on bad terms. I've lived here since I was 4 and it has given me many, many opportunities and people that I cherish. As for the rays, each set of 3 means something different, and it would take me a while to explain exactly what. I will say that I decided one set of "3" represents a three year time span. I've gotten a lot accomplished in the past 3 years...and I learned you can change a lot in a promising way. You can morph into someone a little different or someone completely opposite, if that's what you need to do. It's a little bit of hope and forward-thinking attached to a little bit of home, wherever I go. :)