Best of 2011 – Tattoos and Storytelling

Image by Tracy Lee via Flickr

This post originally ran as part of a two-part series back in March, 2011.

Yesterday one of my students, Leah Pendorf, offered up a guest post here about the similarities between blogging and getting a tattoo. I think she really hit on some key points, and I wanted to expound on it a bit, particularly in relation to the idea that Social Media, at its heart, is about relationships and stories. If you piece together all of your content on various social platforms, the end result is your story, told in a rather non-narrative, non-linear, yet creative way. We all have stories: as individuals, as businesses, as brands. The ability to tell and share those stories is important, as is the ability to listen to the stories of others. As I discussed tattoos with some of my inked fans, I learned some interesting things and heard some incredible stories.

1. Stories are permanent reminders – When Gutenberg invented the printing press, the impermanent, changing nature of storytelling could now become more permanent. This helps us to remember things on a greater scale. When I asked my friends on Twitter to share their tattoo stories, I received this very personal story from Andrea:

My father committed suicide when I was 7. I used tattoos to keep his life with me.

There is a catfish carrying my birth flower, in which my father’s initials are woven into the stem. The catfish is significant because my dad loved to fish and was one of the few memories I have of our short time together. I remember him telling me how sharp the catfish’s whiskers were and I always held my breath when he would handle them. The catfish pulling my birth flower through the dark waters symbolizes the impact his suicide had on my life. It had a hold of my life for years and I dwelled in depression.

There’s a message in a bottle with a quote by Emily Dickinson. Emily is my favorite poet and the quote really puts into words my thoughts on my father’s suicide: “Much madness is divinest sense.” What looks like the unthinkable to us made sense to my dad at some point in time. The date below the quote is the date of his death. The bottle is topped by a globe to symbolize the world not wanting this madness to be known or discussed.

I have a turtle climbing out of the dark, murky waters. On the turtle’s shell is the Wheel of Dharma. On the inside of the arm is a deer head drinking out of the waters where the catfish swims. My dad was a big hunter as well. On my shoulder is a moth with the word “dad” hidden in its wings. Symbolizes letting go of the “dad” relationship I’ll never know. It’s releasing my dad to just be and releasing myself to live my life without that dark shadow.

2. Stories are personal and unique to each of us – When someone gets a tattoo, it’s a form of engagement. In effect they are saying, “I have a story to tell, just ask me.” But whatever the story, it is their story. When I asked Amber about her tattoos, she was more than willing to share. She said that most of her tattoos are merely for aesthetics, with no real meaning, but that her sleeve holds a lot of meaning as it is about her family:

My sleeve currently has two bonsai trees and the lotus flower at the bottom. I’ll have more eventually, like my son Asher’s name is Hebrew on a bluebird (his name means ‘happiness’ in Hebrew), a pumpkin patch (I lovingly call my husband ‘Punkin’), and a silhouette of the Piton Mts in St. Lucia where we got married. Currently I just have the lotus blossom in honor of my daughter Lotus.

3. While personal, some stories are also communal – Some stories are shared by a group of people. They all play their individual parts, but have some commonality. For my friend Donna, that commonality resulted in a group tattoo:

My entire creative writing cohort became really close during our first residency, back in June 2007. We only got closer from there. A smaller group of us began seeing each other in between residencies at what we called “writing retreats”, although it’s not just a four-day weekend for writing, but lots of fun too. We stayed on a houseboat at Lake Raystown, a vacation home in the Poconos, a house in Amish country, a cabin near Gettysburg, a remote location in central PA and one of our cohort’s homes near Pittsburgh. At one of these retreats, one of our group came up with the idea of getting ‘W’ tattoos (for “Wilkes” and “writing”) when we graduated. This would commemorate the occasion, but also create something special that we’d all share for the rest of our lives. Since I was living locally to Wilkes, I arranged for the tattoo parlor. I went first – we were debating between ankle or wrist. I decided ankle. The rest of the group decided on wrist. We each selected our own font, and in one case, color. Six of us have the matching tattoos.

4. Stories give context and insight – If you really want to get to know someone, ask them about their tattoos. My friend Jeremy has a rather elaborate sleeve, and if you ask him about it, he’ll be more than happy to share. The first time he told me the story behind his tattoo, I learned a lot about him and his interests, and the story of HOW he got his tattoo is also interesting:

My tattoo sleeve is a collage of characters and art from the comics/graphic novels of Elfquest. I got into Elfquest when I was 16, and pretty much stopped reading all other comics as a result. The art and stories inspired me in many different ways, and you might even say that I grew into a man while reading it. It had been a dream of mine to someday get a sleeve of Elfquest art for many years, and my wife fianlly initiated the tattoo by getting all my friends and family to contribute to the starting of it, as a 30th birthday present.

5. Stories are symbolic – For my friend Meghin, this small dandelion tattoo represents an important aspect of her life as a “military brat”.

 

 

I got the seedlings that fly off of a dandelion because I am a “military brat”, and the official flower of military brats is a dandelion. This represents the rooting and uprooting that each move brings, allowing me to set my “roots” wherever I go.

Meanwhile, another friend (yet another Jeremy!) says this about the tattoo on his wrist:

The tattoo is the word chesed in Hebrew, which is translated various ways into English, such as Loving Kindness, Forgiveness, or simply Love or Kindness. In Jewish culture, the word is central to both their theology and their ethics. While I have no Jewish blood in me, I am a Christian and a lover and follower of Jesus. I chose to get the tattoo because of the rich, central meaning of the word found so frequently in the Old Testament.

The location of the tattoo, on my wrist, is symbolic as well. Spiritually, God’s love (or kindness, or loving kindness) is my lifeline. I can’t live without His love cleansing and empowering me each day. Similarly, the veins/arteries that are visible on my wrist carry my physical lifeline: my blood. I can’t live or breathe without a constant flow of blood through my body. I can’t live without God’s love just as much as I can’t live without my blood. Both truths are reflected by my tattoo on my wrist.

6. Stories are snapshots in time, that together tell of a journey – Each story tells of a particular moment, or series of moments, in time. But the stories of our life aren’t static. They change. For my friend Judy, a series of tattoos tells of her life journey so far. This might be my favorite story of the bunch because it also speaks to all the other points of how tattoos are reminders, are permanent, are symbolic, and can also be a way of getting attention, etc:

I’ve always viewed tattoo’s as art, and to have a tattoo would be like carrying around my own art. I got my first tattoo just after I turned 19. It’s a purple rose, which I read meant “enchantment.” (It’s grey now, which I think that means, don’t get a tattoo on your hip.) Next, I had someone draw a picture of a dove and tattoo it on my side. I chose a dove because it represents peace and faith, and that’s where I was before college. During college I spontaneously and stupidly got 4 tattoos that weren’t for art, more like reminders of people who treated me awfully or a time when I was probably looking for attention. After I graduated, I looked at pictures of those 4 years and felt disgusted with many choices I’d made and things I let happen. It’s funny how the decisions I made felt so much worse than the physical pain of a tattoo. From 2008 to 2010, I did a lot of growing spiritually and emotionally. I put a lot of thought into how I could make something of my past. I came up with the idea of covering up the tattoos with a scene of the Garden of Eden. Mike from Freedom Gallery was very patient with me as we discussed how to grow a tree up out of the existing flowers, add more garden scenery, and make the existing fairies to represent Adam and Eve. The scene begins mid-back and I asked him to leave the top of the tree unfinished. I chose the Garden of Eden because it represents paradise; it’s all new and beautiful.

As you engage in Social Media, remember to tell stories. They are much more personal than sales pitches. And remember that the people we are trying to reach each have their own stories that they might be willing to share. If you can connect with people on that level, you’ll have made deep inroads.

What are the stories you have to tell? And to which stories should you be listening?

I’d like to thank all of my friends who shared their stories with me, even though some of them might be very personal and difficult to relate. If you have friends with tattoos, why not ask them about them? You might be surprised at what you learn!

Related articles

• Three Ways to Create Content through Stories (spinsucks.com)
• When Stories and Numbers Collide (waxingunlyrical.com)
• The Power of Telling a Story (frankdickinson.me)
• Intel Inside & Storytelling (soulati.com)
• Random Stuff You Should Know About Me (inklingmedia.net)