My first tattoo was a small cross on the inside of my left ankle. I got it about a month after turning 18, with two of my best friends holding my hands as I got a tiny reminder of my spirituality permanently displayed on my skin. I did this for two reasons: to reaffirm my faith, and simply because I wanted to. My faith is exactly what taught me that I should reach for every goal I have and experience every moment I want, and one of the experiences that I was curious about was what it would feel like to get a tattoo.
It was my second tattoo, however, that taught me something unexpected. About a year later, I went back to the same parlor and got a bird tattooed on my left ribcage. The reason why I chose the bird was because of a quote by my favorite artist, Frida Kahlo. In a page from her journal, she wrote: “Pies, para que los quiero si tengo alas para volar?,” which translates to, “Feet, what do I need you for when I have wings to fly?”
The choice of my ribcage as the home for my new ink was not because it’s trendy, or sexy, or easily covered if necessary; it was because it was a part of my body I felt extremely insecure about. I’m a girl with small breasts, and for a long time I thought that somehow made me less feminine. I thought that my womanhood was defined by breasts, because they are such a beautiful and unique part of the female body.
My tattoo taught me that I’m able to fly as high as I want, and part of that means expressing my femininity in all the ways in which I want, which has nothing to do with having breasts at all. They are beautiful because they are mine, and I am the person that gets to make that call. If I ever have children, I’ll be able to nurse them because of my breasts, no matter their size. If I’m feeling particularly sexy, I can put on my favorite bra and give myself a boost of confidence. And most of the time, I don’t think about them at all, because they are simply one part of the whole that makes up my incredible body. I’m the one in charge of my relationship to my breasts, and that is the most important thing to remember.
Having a tattoo that means so much to me in an area of my body that was craving love reminds me every day to be thankful for every part of my body. I feel such incredible energy near my breasts because I know that I have this reminder to continuously be thankful for them. The best part of that is knowing that I’m the only person who needs to see it in order to justify it being there, and no one else needs to tell me how to love my body the way that best serves me. This body is my home, and the only one I get, and I must never forget to be thankful that it has given me the freedom to fly anywhere I choose to go.