My mouth was dry. My palms were sweaty. But I had been psyching myself up for it all day, and I decided to go through with it. I’d spent all day researching it, finding the perfect one, picking the right size, and location. I was ready. I stepped into the dimly lit parlor, (it wasn’t dimly lit; I’m just setting the mood. Go with me here.) and began discussing the procedure. After about an hour of prep time, it was time. I had been nervously fiddling with my purse and hair for that hour, trying to calm my nerves. Should I turn back? Not go through with it? No, I told myself, I’d been thinking of this for a while, and it was time to go. I had acted on an impulse, hoping I wouldn’t chicken out. JayD finally called me up there, and I knew it was time; there was no turning back now. I was getting a tattoo.
I’m not sure why I had chosen today to be the day, but as I sat at work, I just kept thinking about it. I knew what I wanted to get, the ball, and finally I just thought, I’ve just gonna do it. So I left work and drove straight to the place. After deciding on the location, I chose back, FYI, we put the stamp on there, and we were on our way. I had to sit in an uncomfortable position to get this done. I was laying on my right side with one arm under my head, kind of sticking out, and the other was just hanging out. The reason it was not comfortable is because after about ten minutes, my arm started to fall asleep. After about twenty more, it was totally numb, and I could barely do anything with it. I was told I had chosen a pretty painful spot, which I didn’t really know until we had gotten started, but I braved my way through it. The outlining was the most painful part, and luckily, that part had to be done first. When we started, and I just kept feeling everything, I thought to myself, “This might have not been a good idea”. But I kept through it. (Not that I could back down or anything, jeez, the ink was already in the skin.) After we finished the outline, I could look at the progress so far. Getting up from the table, I made my way to the mirror. It looked great, as a work-in-progress. The outlining was dark and looked pretty cool. I took the opportunity of his changing the needle to stretch out my arm, which was slowly getting some life back into it. As we buckled down for the last stretch, which was the shading, I was told it wouldn’t be as painful as the outlining, and he was right. I was only a mild discomfort then, opposed to the scratching feelings of the first thing. This time, my arm must have changed positions, because it was more painful for that this time! It took about an hour total for the whole thing, which wasn’t so bad. When I sat up after everything was finished, my arm was useless. I couldn’t even move it, it just flopping around! JayD told me that I had held perfectly still during the process-which few people do, especially with the spot I had chosen. I was really proud of myself for that.
And now, here I am, recovering (only slightly) from my adventure. And when it heals, I’m sure it’ll look even better!
