To Tattoo or Not To Tattoo... That is the Question

Lately, I've been wrestling with a not-so-serious life question: Should I get another tattoo?

I started getting tattoos fairly early in life. I was barely 18 when I got my first tattoo, and managed to get three more during that year. I also pierced a lot of things on my face and body. I attribute all of this "body modification" to being young and trying to figure out who I really was. Not to mention I wanted to be looked at as "edgy", because tattoos and piercings were not as common in the 1990's as they are now.

Fast forward five years, and it was time to take out all of my facial piercings. I was getting older, and I knew the metal in my face wasn't scoring me any points in the professional world. The tattoos never caused any problems, because they were all strategically placed so normal clothing could cover them. I never wanted to have tattoos that were visible when I was fully clothed in "business casual" wear.

While the tattoos weren't an issue, I began to dislike a couple of them. As a dumb teenager, I did not make the wisest choices when it came to tattoo design. I saw a couple things on the wall of the tattoo shop that looked cool or had some superficial meaning... and then I got them permentantly marked on my flesh. Definitely not a wise idea. I had gotten a tribal tattoo, which is the most cliche' tattoo design of the late 90's. As I got older and learned a little more, I started to dislike the tribal I had put on my right leg... and it's not a good feeling to hate something that you have to stare at for the rest of your life. (Just a quick FYI - Tattoo removal is not an option for me... it's painful, expensive, and leaves you with a tattoo-shaped scar)

Luckily for me, I had a good friend who had just started working as a professional tattoo artist. He knew how much I hated the art on my leg, and sketched up a design to make the tattoo on my leg more bareable. After six years, I decided to add some more to my leg... and I was so pleased! My friend took a tattoo I hated, and turned it into a piece I feel very proud of. Here is what my leg tattoo looks like today:

Today, I am having the same old problem with another tattoo of mine. I have a smallish one on the back of my left shoulder that has been bothering me for some time. It was my first tattoo, and it was supposed to have "so much meaning" to me when I first got it. Now, it is just a small little blob on my shoulder that I hate having to explain to people. It is a celtic rune that is often mistaken for a music note or the symbol for "Pi". As a person who prides myself on the few good tattoos I managed to get (once I wised up about the process), it's so embarrassing to have such a crappy tattoo on my shoulder!

I am back in my hometown for a few weeks, and my amazing tattoo artist is just around the corner... and I am toying with the idea of getting another cover-up job, sort of like the one I have on my leg. I'd love to get a beautiful piece of art work done, and I can finally hide the last bit of my tattooed shame. Although, I must say I have my reservations about getting another tattoo.

I'm thirty years old now, and I am far from that "edgy" girl I used to think that I was. I've gone from the beer-drinking, school-skipping, loud, crazy girl to laid-back, a-few-drinks-on-the-weekends, graduate-school-attending, suburban-dwelling military spouse. Can I really pull off a larger, more intricate tattoo? Am I going to look like I'm trying too hard?

I've put in a call to my friend, the tattoo artist. I've done my research and I think I've figured out a good design that I would like to cover up my old tattoo. Hopefully, he can come up with a sketch that will strike my fancy... but even if he does, I can't help but wonder if it is too little (or I guess, too much) too late?