bold as love: updated

But they're all bold as love
Yeah, they're all bold as love

- Jimi Hendrix

This tattoo is my second. I posted a picture of it when I first got it done, but it's since been touched up and this is the final product. I got it in August 2009 and it has several meanings.

First, "Bold as Love" is my favorite Hendrix song. I think that its message is incredibly powerful and I love the melody and the lyrics. Second, it serves as a reminder in accordance with the first reason. When I'm feeling ungrateful, pissed off or hurt by someone, I can look at this tattoo and recall that at the core, we are all the same. We are all interconnected. We are all part of the same Earth. The lyric is on my right wrist, facing me, because I'm right-handed, meaning that most of my interaction (i.e. writing, shaking hands, waving) takes place through the medium of my right hand. Therefore, my actions, words and physical connection to others is filtered through these words.

Finally, I have this tattoo partially because of To Write Love On Her Arms. For those of you who don't know, TWLOHA is a non-profit organization dedicated to preventative awareness of depression, addiction, self-harm and suicide. It saved my life when I was sixteen and I've been an avid supporter and advocate for their cause ever since I discovered the organization's website. Speaking from experience, addiction to self-mutilation is incredibly alienating. These actions are often not the basis of suicidal thoughts, but the desperate attempt to block out some other type of suffering and take control of the pain which festers as depression in so many people. TWLOHA's mission is to help people, young and old, to seek help and move past the pain, past the hatred, and into a place of love. Their motto: love is the movement. If you know me well, you know that I often repeat these words and incorporate them into my philosophy in the hopes that others will pick up this language and use it themselves.

I challenge you to tell someone you love them this week. Ask after the well-being of your friends and family. Care about their responses. Find the time to be with the people you care about. And if you are suffering, don't be afraid to ask for help. Don't lock yourself away. You are alive. You are beautiful. You are worth saving. You are loved. And there are people who are on your side.