My Pencil is my Security Blanket

Today is my birthday, and the incomparable @timekeeperart drew me this absolutely gorgeous bookmark!

So I can’t get the photo distribution to behave for the life of me, but I wanted to share- I got a new tattoo last month based on @timekeeperart ‘s delightful concept re: flowers, defiance, and spoon theory. They were kind enough to give me permission to mess with it on my own. :) I did my own spin on it with my favorite flowers and sketched a version of it that my tattoo artist turned into something magnificent. Here are some pics from along the way, with the pic of me in the grey shirt a recent one after it has healed.

I GREATLY appreciate that, as this was a personal thing for me and it’s encouraging to see it in the mirror every day (especially as my Gram recently passed). As someone with pretty severe clinical depression and anxiety and a chronic lack of spoons, every little bit helps. :) It’s aided by the fact that I found a truly amazing tattoo artist at the Pino Bros Ink location in Cambridge, MA who did this for a STEAL and was a delight to deal with.

Forget-Me-Nots mean memories and nostalgia- for me that’s a representative of positive childhood memories. They’re also my favorite flower. My parents planted some the first year they moved into my childhood home (a trailer in the middle of the woods) and by the time they moved out when I was 15, they’d spread into this wonderful field of blue. These make me think of my friend Kit, my first-ever friend.

Pine- meaning longevity and perseverence in some flower languages, this plant for me will always represent my dad, who’s been in the Christmas Tree business since he was small. I got my temper and my curly hair from him, but also my tenacity.

Lilac- meaning purity, this is the NH state flower (my home state) as well as my mom’s favorite. Mom’s the source of my stubbornness and willingness to help others.