What Getting a Tattoo Taught Me about Pain and Healing
You can’t have one without the other.
I just got my first tattoo and I’m in love. I love the design and I loved the experience. But I didn’t expect to learn more about pain and healing than the literal pain and healing that came from getting a tattoo. Here are a few things I learned…
Self-inflicted pain is masochistic.
I wavered about getting a tattoo for years. Like many, I was scared of the pain. Would it hurt so much that I would move and mess it up? What if I started and it hurt too much to finish?
But I pulled the trigger and it wasn’t as bad as I made it out to be.
I actually enjoyed the pain…
…some of the time. Yes, I wanted it to end but there were several moments that the buzz of the needle and sustained jabbing kicked my endorphins into high gear. I wondered what this meant for other types of pain we inflict upon ourselves.
There are so many cruel messages I recite to myself on a daily basis:
- You’re not doing enough.
- You need to be more patient.
- You need to stand up for yourself more.
