I love tattoos, but I take them very seriously. This one took me over a year to choose. It is also on a very discreet part of my body, so no one ever sees it.
I got it for my 30th birthday to remind me that I’m on the right path. When I was approaching my thirties, I got it into my head that I needed to grow up and get a real job. I quit acting for a year and went to business college. I actually managed to fool myself for eight months that I didn’t want to be an actor anymore. However, when the time came to look for a “real job,” I simply couldn’t stomach the idea of working in an office, 9 to 5 p.m. every day for the rest of my life. I cried myself to sleep every night – I had never been so miserable. That’s when it hit me. Even at my worst moments of being an actor, I was still happy because I was living my life with purpose and passion. And simply because there were times of hardship and sacrifice, didn’t mean that you throw the baby out with the bath water. I went back to my life in the theatre, and never regretted the decision to walk away my business college education (however, I do regret the student loans I’m still paying).
I needed to make sure this never happened again, so I tattooed the lesson I had learned on my body.
I began acting professionally when I was 15, and my very first director told me,”If you want the rose, you have to accept the thorns. As in this business, success comes with pain.” Whenever I get sulky or depressed because I’m not working as much as I’d like to, or I think my career sucks, the tattoo reminds me that I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.
Tattoos are also addictive. As soon as I got that one, I wanted another. But being an actor, you have to make sure that they either can’t be seen or can be covered up easily. I have a two epic trips planned in the near future, and I want tattoos to commemorate them both. Next summer, Will, my brother, and I are going to travel the States in a VW Westfalia for four weeks. And in 2018, for my 40th birthday, Will and I are going to walk the Camino de Santiago. Considering it took me so long to choose my first tattoo, I’m going to start thinking about what I want now, and where I want it. I’m leaning towards simple text this time.
Here’s my inspiration:
1 Alis Volat Propiis (She Flies with her own Wings) / 2 Create / 3 Curiosity often leads to trouble
I love hand written tattoos – I’ve been designing mine for years… as a challenge to see if after a year I still wanted it… but noticed my designs seem to follow fashion…
I guess thats why I like anything hand written… even if the tattooist turns out to be terrible as long as they can write – it works! – and its gotta mean something you!
It took me a couple years to come up with the design for my first tattoo. And luckily, my tattoo artist was fantastic and made the design even better. But I’m definitely going with handwritten next time. Images are great, but words can be quite powerful.