Life’s Direction

For a long time my wife and I have talked about tattoos. We both really appreciate them and neither of us had any, mostly because we couldn’t think of what we might want to have on our bodies forever. About 6 months ago, I began to settle on an idea, and now my first tattoo has become a reality. Over the 6 months, it became a “project” involving several people and I could not be more satisfied with the final result.

Origin of Life’s Direction

Many of my close associates at work have tattoos. In fact, of the 15-person team I belong to, only three didn’t have a tattoo when these conversations began. So, of course, this group of friends was very encouraging while being mindful not to pressure me into doing something I’d regret. And seeing as how this took half a year, I clearly didn’t act hastily or without careful thought.

Among these work colleagues, several of them are friends outside of work and all of them are people that I really trust. I initially came to them with the basic idea for my first tattoo – I wanted to do the symbols of PLUR. If you are unfamiliar, PLUR stands for:

• Peace
• Love
• Unity
• Respect

PLUR is “a set of principles that is associated with the rave culture” and, beyond raves, certainly a respectable moral compass. I was thinking that, even if I soured on rave culture over time, reminding myself to live PLUR would never be something I’d regret. I’d found my “forever message” and wanted it as a tattoo.

The most simple tattoo would be to use the symbols associated with each word, something like this:

There are nuanced interpretations of these symbols, and they can be adjusted accordingly, but you get the idea. In doing some research I found several examples of PLUR tattoos like this one:

Clearly the idea of PLUR as a tattoo was nothing unique, but any tattoo is also very personal, so I was happy with this in concept. I then floated this idea with my tattooed friends at work to a positive response. Then one of them, who is also a designer, suggested that the symbols should be stylized to make it more personal to me and my tastes. I asked what she had in mind and she asked if I’d welcome some ideas. We agreed and off she went to design something for me.

As the days passed and turned into weeks, I hadn’t seen any ideas from her, but she continued to note that she was making progress. She also asked me many questions about personal inspirations, which both gave me the impression that she was taking this project very seriously and that she was making it into something more that just PLUR. I was getting excited to see where this was going, and since I was in no rush, patiently waited and answered her questions along the way.

Roughly two months had passed and she told me she was ready to present her ideas to me. She started by taking me through a five page<!> PDF of inspirations, symbolism, and meanings. I must admit that I was a bit overwhelmed, but also truly fascinated that she had put in, not only so much effort, but also so much thought! Here is an abbreviated version of her research covering only the symbols and meanings that made it into Life’s Direction. I’ll start with the four symbols representing PLUR as that was the origin of this entire work.

Olive Branch for Peace

Not only does the olive branch symbolize peace, it also symbolizes harmony, hope and even victory. Before winners in the Olympics wore medals, they wore wreaths fashioned from olive branches. But, the symbolism of victory dates back even further to Athena in Greek mythology.

In addition to providing its primary meaning of peace and these additional meanings that only make the olive branch even more relevant to me, it is artistically something more interesting to work with in a composition than a traditional peace symbol.

Unalome for Love

The nice thing about art, and especially tattoos, is that you can personalize symbols as much as you’d like. The unalome is a Buddhist symbol representing the path to enlightenment and the path that each individual takes in their journey. The bottom spiral represents the formative years when one goes backward nearly as much as forward. At some point the middle section is reached as life gently ebbs and flows forward with more purpose. Finally, the path gets straighter and straighter as enlightenment is approached.

When the spirals are clockwise, they represent the male journey and, when reversed, female. Often shown side by side, this can represent the joint path of a couple. And with this interpretation, I use this as my symbol for love. In Life’s Direction, the upper portion is missing and instead replaced with the triskellion (described below) as this is where I am currently in my journey. Sometimes the Unalome is shown with a Lotus Flower near the top representing adversity and the triskellion in my usage can represent this as well.

Yin Yang for Unity

The Yin Yang represents the inextricably linked opposites in our world that allow complete balance, and in PLUR is the accepted symbol for unity. While I’ve used the traditional PLUR symbol, Life’s Direction plays with the imagery by using it only as a background. And instead of black and white, each side is stylized with additional imagery. In fact, traditionally the white section represents the male polarity and the black section, the female polarity. I’ve played with this in that what would be the black section includes content that represents my wife’s impact on my journey.

Triskellion for Respect

The triskellion (or triskele) has many different meanings, uses, and names, as well as a wealth of different visual representations. In all cases, it represents three concepts, all in motion, all having a meaningful interrelation to the others. Some are very cyclical like Life, Death, Rebirth others coexist such as Spirit, Mind, Body. These are also the two examples that resonate with me. There is also a modern and hidden meaning in a specific style triskellion that represents the BDSM community and that one is Safe, Sane, Consensual. To me, this is the one that most ties the symbol to its PLUR meaning of Respect.

Rope for Ascension

Some rope is included in Life’s Direction to represent ascension, as in “to ascend to a higher place.” Rope also represents help and the possibility of climbing to new summits in waking life. And, when formed into a shape such as a lasso, rope can also represent abundance. On a practical level, rope is also representative of at least two of my personal hobbies as a specific component of these activities.

Compass for Direction and Guidance

There is a compass in the body of Life’s Direction occupying the section of the Yin Yang that is often representative of female energy. It represents direction and guidance, and is placed in the female space as an indication of how important my wife has been in my journey. She has often provided the guidance in my life when I was either straying off course or drifting with no course in mind at all.

Additionally, the compass shown points cardinal East. According to the Zodiac, East represents the earth sign Taurus. Native Americans believed that East represented salvation. And the Celts said East indicates new growth. Finally, the Chinese used East to represent sincerity, love and compassion. Hence, the compass in Life’s Direction is as dynamic as the full work!

New Zealand for my Spirit Place

When looking for inspirations, my designer friend asked me many questions and one was, “what is your spirit place?” I instinctively answered with New Zealand. I’ve only been there once, but it is the place I feel most connected to in a spiritual way. Perhaps because it’s the most natural and unadulterated place I’ve ever been, it just feels so pure. I have no idea if I’d actually want to live there long term, but the power of the place does call to my spirit. In Life’s Direction, the male section of the Yin Yang is filled with a nature scene to represent New Zealand; the mountains, clouds and pure water representing the natural beauty of this place. I’m also reminded that Pāua shells come from the water of New Zealand.

Silver Fern for Illumination

Finally, the silver fern (Cyathea dealbata) has come to embody the spirit of New Zealand. According to Māori legend, the silver fern once lived in the sea. It was asked to come and live in the forest to play a significant role in guiding the Māori people. Māori hunters and warriors used the silver underside of the fern leaves to find their way home. When bent over, the fronds would catch the moonlight and illuminate a path through the forest.

It is often represented as an unfurling frond, named Koru, which symbolizes new life, a new beginning. The fully unfolded fern frond means life and tranquility, and it’s a symbol of Māori pride.

Concept and Tattoo Artist

After taking me through all of the inspirations, she finally showed me a sketch:

Admittedly, we needed to talk through this since so much is going on, but I was immediately drawn to this concept. And the fact that this is original art from a friend makes it that much more special.

When this was shown to me, another friend at work saw it and immediately said, “I know the artist you should use! Eva at Bang Bang!” And since I didn’t know one tattoo artist from another, I was happy to have a referral. Then I looked up Eva’s work and I was hooked! Her profile says, “Specializes in illustrative miniature fine art” and, while I didn’t know it at the time, this was exactly what I was looking for in a tattoo, miniature fine art. Here is one example and Eva’s Gallery if you want to see more.

I took the sketch and an abbreviated document of inspirations to Eva for a consultation. Eva is Turkish and has some limitations with the English language. Yet even through the limited words that were spoken during the consultation, I knew she was the right artist for this job. Thankfully I’d been prepped that Bang Bang is an expensive studio and Eva is on the high-end, still. Because when the estimate was presented, it would have otherwise been quite shocking! For a work of art that will be on my body forever, it’s worth it.

The Final Tattoo

Eva books up about 3 months in advance for anything other than the simplest tattoos, but near the holidays there were some openings, so I was able to book my appointment only 4 weeks after the consultation. I was told that it would be a 3-4 hour session and that when I arrived we’d spend some time reviewing and modifying the final design, before Eva would sketch it for transfer to my arm and then begin the inking.

She had the design on a laptop and with digital tools we were able to easily make some minor adjustments to the final design. Satisfied, I was sent to the waiting area in the basement and shown where drinks and snacks were available. Finally, it was time to ink.

Eva lead me to a table where I was to lay on my back. I thought I’d be seated, but Eva noted that for the forearm, it would be too low for her to sit and work. It made sense, but I was disappointed that it was now difficult to watch her work. Oh well, as my friend said, “you rarely end up in the position you expect for the inking.”

When Eva actually began, it took a few minutes to acclimate to the feeling of the needle, but it was never all that painful. For the first hour I listened to the loud hip hop playing in the studio and texted with friends. A little over an hour in, we took a break and I thought it would be the first of many, but it turned out to be the only one (Eva did say I could suggest a break at any time). After the break, I put in earbuds and listened to mindless podcasts while Eva worked. What seemed like an hour later (but was more than two<!>) she stopped and I thought we were taking a break. She was done! Here is the final product:

Afterwards, my wife asked about the pain and I said, “Is it odd to say that I liked it?!?” And this, my friends, may be why folks get addicted to tattoos – there is something both meditative and thrilling about the experience itself. And, in the end, you’ve (hopefully) got a beautiful work of art to enjoy for years to come. I know that I do!