Written on the Body*

(*I am borrowing this title from a book by Jeanette Winterson. It is a lovely book. You should read it. Also, today is Love Your Body Day. I didn't know this before I wrote the post, but I think it is apropos.)

I've been thinking a lot about the body. More specifically my body and writing.

I contemplated getting a tattoo for quite a while, but I didn't know what I wanted. You see, I grew up knowing that a tattoo wasn't the sort of decision to take lightly. I knew that I would have to carefully figure out what I wanted and it would have to be something that, even if I fell out of love the with tattoo, would have a sentiment I still agreed with. Once I knew those two things, I sort of knew one basic fact: it would have to include words.

I thought about poems I love, movie quotes, titles, song lyrics. I thought of getting "words, words, words" which would connect not only to my love of words, but my appreciation of Shakespeare and by extension, theater. I thought of my favorite line from A Midsummer Night's Dream, which I've been in a number of times and have a ton of memories from, for similar reasons. "Lord, what fools these mortals be!" has pretty much been my mantra since the 7th grade. A few months after getting my tattoo, I saw a man in a shop with this quotation on his arm. I smiled, said I loved it, and had my first "oh my god, I love your tattoo" moment. I was also happy that I didn't choose that.

I would find the words on a train back in May 2010. Honestly, I can't even remember how it happened. It was in a book I had used in grad school, the year before. I am not sure how I found it on a train. All I know is that I read it, made plans to meet my friend when I got home to Boston, and once I got there, told her I knew what I wanted and we had to go to the tattoo parlor now.

That is how I got Alice Walker's words inked into my skin. She defines 'womanist' in four different ways. The part that also spoke to me was the following: Love music. Loves dance. Loves the moon. Loves the Spirit. Loves love and food and roundness. Loves struggle. Loves the Folk. Loves herself. Regardless.

So 'Loves herself. Regardless.' got inked into my skin.

Later, when I got another one, I would get a picture...of a song lyric.

While I doubt I will get more tattoos (I'm told these are famous last words), I often find myself thinking about how the body can be a canvas. It is a canvas. Be it fashion, jewelry, makeup, or tattoos. I've always loved the idea of my body being a canvas for words, for stories. My favorite t-shirts have words on it, or have the covers of books. Some of my favorite jewelry has words, and for those that don't have words, they usually tell a story (or when someone asks me about it, there is a story to tell). I'm also a sucker for a tote bag with words. Keep them away from me.

Not everyone understands my first tattoo. Stereotypically, most women seem to get it, while most men seem to question it. Or they understand it simply as a "feminist thing". Doesn't matter to me though.

Sometimes I am just happy to look down at my ankle and to see letters, words, inked into my skin. The following is a quotation I've found on the internet (pinterest), attributed to J.H. but I couldn't find who that was in a simple search: Tattooing is an odd and beautiful form of art; very interesting and more expressive of sentiment than any other thing.

Not only does that tattoo express my love of myself, but it also expresses my love of words. Can't get any better than that.