It will only hurt until it stops hurting.

Ouch! I could never get a tattoo. It would hurt too much, and I have an aversion to pain. I had breast cancer in 2001. Radiation was part of my treatment plan. I had to have three very small pin-prick tattoo marks showing where my radiation points triangulated for future reference in my medical care. Those three itty-bitty pin-prick tattoo marks hurt like the dickens - to coin an old phrase my Grandma used when I was a little sprite - I cannot imagine what a beautiful work of art, spread across an arm or back or side, would feel like as it was being created over a few hours, days, or weeks. This art form is exploding in pop culture today.

My friend recently said to me that she felt like a minority while we were sitting at a trendy restaurant waiting for our husbands to join us for supper. I looked around, puzzled as to why she would think that and looked at her inquiringly. Her response surprised me. "Look around us, we are like the only people here who do not have tattoo's." And she was right. Besides the small children and a table of octogenarians behind us, everyone had a tattoo. (I think I saw a snake with a skull head on the calf of one of the octogenarians if the truth be told here.)

Anyway, tattoos are very prevalent in society today. The artistry involved is often astoundingly beautiful, the colors so vivid and vibrant. It is like reading an open book about the life of the one who proudly wears their story for all to see.

The evolution of tattooing has come a long way from the tattoos my Uncle's got when they were in World War II and the Korean War. A small anchor or a gal's name inked onto a bicep or forearm using a weird blue-green ink that always seemed to be blurry somehow. Today, complete pallets containing multiple story lines are created over long periods of time, blending time lines and tributes that have lasting meaning to their human canvases. It is truly amazing when you think about it.

This past weekend, I read several articles regarding new studies surrounding the risks involved with unregulated inks used by tattoo artists and the long-term effects these inks could have on those who get tattoos. We don't know the full ramifications of these studies, but it caused me to pause and think about the validity of what the studies are trying to determine. Unregulated inks, pigmentation, going beneath the skins surface and traveling into the blood stream, becoming a permanent part of the body. Some of these pigmentation's are the same that are used for auto body painting. What might that be doing to the body that they become a part of? Nano particle technology was mentioned. Lymph nodes were mentioned. It is all new, there are no parameters by which to base a conclusion, but it causes one to wonder. Is it safe? I've had cancer. It is ugly. I never want to have it again. I don't want to risk introducing carcinogen's into my bloodstream in the name of art. I will tell my story using words and admire the risks takers from afar.