Life is full of tough choices and hard decisions that need to be made; we are often in a war between what our hearts want and what our minds say. Admit it, at some point in your life you too have been caught in this crossfire.
You might be wondering what this has to do with Tattoos, this soul bearing post that has now popped up in your news feed; and the answer is everything.
I have been a dutiful citizen and have worked a 9 to 5 for years, keeping up with the Jones’ and then some. It has never felt quite right to me, regardless of how often I pretended that it did. Which is exactly what I kept doing – pretending.
I would pretend to be happy to cover my tattoos when meeting with clients, I would pretend that I was happy that if I did look for another day job, that I would have to change my hair colour back to something more socially acceptable and I would pretend that I was working, when in reality, I was spending hours researching tattoos.
I think that I got tired of pretending.
It’s no secret that I am completely obsessed with tattoo history and the culture as a whole – even my employer knows that- and while I am a responsible adult who did what was required of me, I just couldn’t fake it anymore.
Because I am far better at research than I am at acting, I decided that it would be a much better choice for me to turn my back on the corporate world, and throw myself into my writing full time. And that is exactly what I have just done and let me tell you, it is terrifying!
Where do my loyalties lie? Within the tattoo community, the culture and the industry – why I pretended otherwise for so long is beyond me. Now while I have your attention, I am also accepting Freelance Writing jobs; for real, if you know of any, please let me know!
Wish me luck on this extremely irresponsible journey in following my dreams!
~TL
The Tattooed Lady 
Wow!!!! Good luck!!! What a super brave thing to do. 🙂
Thank you!
Hats off to you, you are far more courageous than I could ever be!
My job has very strict rules about not showing tattoos, but these rules are luckily not very strictly enforced. In summertime it becomes a hassle to cover up, but by now I’m kinda used to it. I have made the decision to cover my whole body in tattoos. It is not nearly as big as your decision to write full time, but still a scary one for me. I have my full time office job, and I am also studying law part time, which means I will probably end up standing in court some day, defending my client. I want the corporate world, the legal world, the “grownup” world to see my tattoos. And I want them to see me succeed. I’m not stopping now, not with my tattoos, and not with my career. I want to show them everyday that having a heavily tattooed person is an asset to their business, and that they can fit in beautifully in this dull corporate world. If I end up in the political arena someday, I want to show them that tattoos are art, not something to look down on, and not something reserved for ‘the lower classes’. I have my work cut out for me, but everyday I’m working on my cause.
We all fight the battle in our own way. My thoughts are with you and I wish you all the success in the world! You will be amazing. 🙂
Thank you so much! I love that you are representing the Tattooed in the corporate world and who knows, perhaps one day I will need a tattooed lawyer!
Good luck with your studies and thank you for taking the time to read my post and for the feedback!
Following passion is great and scary. Luckily most in my industry have tattoos, fast cars and tattoos are a perfect match. Because of that I get to wear shorts and a T-shirt to work with tattoos in plain site. Even when going to the fancier dinners and things that are industry related I still don’t cover up because you wouldn’t be seeing the real me. I’ve never had to hide them.
If I had to change to a corporate environment for any reason, and I had to cover up, I think I may do it just for a change. That said the feeling might wear off quickly, who knows. I’ve never been in the situation but it could be quite funny being covered all the time and then having your colleagues see you at a social function – the look on their faces would be priceless. Also having them wonder if they’ve ever had anything bad to say about tattooed people around you could be a laugh.
You have guts making that leap though, big up to you. Your writing is great and you passion for the whole industry and culture is very clear to see. Best of luck to you!