After a lot of deliberation and even more procrastination, I am finally part of an exclusive member of the inked club. That is to say, I now have a tattoo.
The decision to get inked was a conscious one and not something that happened on the spur of the moment. I had this listed as my to-do for 2014. But alas, I kept pushing it for later and missed getting it done last year.

The choice of design happened to take a while since I debated on the virtues of a number of symbols and letterings. Initially I was quite keen on getting Chinese characters etched on my skin. Possibly characters that symbolized victory or strength. However I soon ditched that idea as there were a few articles on how unknown characters may end up meaning something entirely different if you don’t speak the language.

So I narrowed my decision down between two of my favorite pop culture movie/book universes, Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. Since this was my very first tattoo, I didn’t want a very complex design that would end up costing me a fortune as well as hours upon hours of inking sessions. Hence the design had to be a relatively simple one with very few intricacies.

LOTR had a few, however not artistic as I had hoped. Star Wars offered a rich collection of logos and symbols, some more known than others. My first choice was to get the Rebel Alliance or the Galactic Empire logos. But they seemed too main stream. So I kept searching. Finally I came across the symbol of the Jedi Council and I stopped my quest for a design. The symbol was perfect both in terms of appearance as well as its significance.

My design of choice is from the Star Wars universe and symbolizes the Jedi Order. Apart from the fact that the fact that this symbol represents the good guys from Lucas’s space opera, the artistic curves and design make it uber appealing!

The search for a reputed and safety conscious tattoo parlor was never an issue since the wife had already got her tattoo done last year and was very happy with her artist. So I headed on a Saturday morning to get my design inked on my left shoulder. I decided to keep it on the left just in the event that the process would leave me sore and rendered my arm useless for a few hours or days.

I had heard horror stories of how getting a tattoo could be a terrible experience both in terms of pain and the regret in the aftermath if said design did not turn out the way you had imagined. Fortunately for me, my very first tattoo experience was absolutely delightful. The inking process proved to be nothing more than a little irritating and slightly stinging and the end result was absolutely stellar. It did help to visualize the end result with the artist first applying a carbon paper impression on the area to be inked.

Getting inked has a certain excitement that is difficult to put into words. It’s not just the cool factor, but the fact that you’re using your body as a canvas to express your passion. I am certainly sold on continuing this form of body art and will not be stopping at just one tattoo. My next tattoo will be something that’s a tad more prominent even when am wearing a tee. Let the search for the next design begin!