Tattoo: A Self Portrait

I decided a few years ago that I would get a tattoo in every city in which I live from the age of 18 on. Maybe this will be an incentive for my wife to want to settle down sooner rather than later :) I promised that, aside from my foot tattoo, I would get my tattoos in places that can be easily covered (living in LA I wear flip-flops a lot and thus show my foot tattoo). I got my first tattoo in Athens, OH, I then incorporated that tattoo into my second tattoo that I got in Washington, DC, and I got my third tattoo in Jerusalem, Israel. My year in Israel was a very transformative, enriching and intense time, and I set out on a journey of self discovery early in that year. I am walking the same path today, and it has been an amazing experience. I of course wanted my third tattoo to be personally meaningful, for it to mark a moment in time permanently on my body, for it to be another way to never forget the journey I am on. Since Israel was the first time I really began exploring and discussing my gender identity in therapy, I wanted my tattoo to reflect this. I was inspired by Native American fetishes and the energy that they hold. I consider bears and crows to be my spirit animals (in addition to turtles). So I decided to create a story with my tattoo that would incorporate these ideas and describe my transgenderqueer and human nature.

The Story of a Tattoo Self Portrait: The bear is brave, proud and strong, and he is also humble, modest and gentle. He often looks down rather than looking up and out at the world around him. The crow is smart, social and has a strong emotional memory. She often serves as the bear's eyes. Sitting on his back, she sees what he cannot. Her world view is made up of the fantasies and daydreams she experiences as she flies through the skies each day, and when she comes to rest on the bear's back, the energy of these dreams flows through his heartline and enables him to understand his own life in a much more meaningful way. The bear and the crow need one another. The bear needs her so that he can come to know and understand her intuition, and the crow needs him so that she can ground herself within his beautiful reality. Each lives a fuller life because the other exists. They are neither either nor or; they are one.

(Refer to the photo entitled "Self Portrait" on the right side of my blog to see the tattoo. I think the artist did a fabulous job capturing the story, which I had shared with her. I am proud of this tattoo because of the meaning, significance and artistic beauty that it holds.)