Re: tattoos and stuff

[Guest guest]

I got a tattoo recently, but it's more of a reminder that we all need to move

on, evolve and change.

It's the darwin fish, with the word EVOLVE that is done in a way that can be

read from all directions. Meaning that we should all be evolving and growing.

Of course, it's also representing my athiest/darwinism side too.

[Guest guest]

I got one on my left wrist (so I can see it, but also cover it with a watch)

after I finished ED treatment and started getting a lot more confidence in

myself as a human being, not an extension of Nada.

So much in my life changes (y'all are KOs, you know how the world can spin

backwards in the blink of an eye if Nada/Fada gets upset) and I've moved around

a lot, so I wanted to PURPOSELY make a permanent change/mark that I couldn't

lose or have taken away from me. Getting the tattoo was one of my first

declarations of personal agency.

I got the word " persist " written with the numbers " 919 " under the leg or the " p "

(they don't go past the " e " ). " 919 " is the number of one of my favorite

Dickinson poems, one that really articulates why I insist on persisting:

If I can stop one Heart from breaking,

I shall not live in vain.

If I can ease one Life the Aching,

or cool one Pain,

Or help one fainting Robin

into his Nest again,

I shall not live in Vain.

As a KO, I have a lot of pain and trauma in my past, and it's hard to remember

that there's a reason to keep on trekkin. This was even harder when I still had

contact w/ Nada. She doesn't know I have the tattoo, so it's completely my own

-Frances

P.S. I realized after I got it that the leg of the " p " makes " 919 " look like

" 1919 " which is when the 19th amendment was passed (not ratified until 1920

though). The 19th amendment gave women the right to vote, and being a women's

studies student, that made me giggle