{"id":6302,"date":"2013-07-17T13:00:16","date_gmt":"2013-07-17T17:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/beginnersheart\/?p=6302"},"modified":"2013-07-17T13:00:16","modified_gmt":"2013-07-17T17:00:16","slug":"tattooed-women-liminal-spaces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beginnersheart\/2013\/07\/tattooed-women-liminal-spaces.html","title":{"rendered":"tattooed women & liminal spaces ~"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"image\"<\/a>I ‘got inked’ with my younger son when I was in Portland last month. He asked, and I was charmed. I already have one tattoo — a small Chinese character for ‘ink,’ almost unnoticeable on my inside right ankle.<\/p>\n

This one is NOT unnoticeable. Friends vary in their reactions. Some were horrified (truly — you can tell). Others (particularly old friends & family) were accepting; they’ve known me to do far weirder things. I’m lucky to have the best of husbands — he said my dragon was beautiful. I think so too.<\/p>\n

I’m year of the dragon<\/a>, which by most Asian standards is a great thing to be. And the dragon seems to me the perfect symbol for the changes I’ve been going through.<\/p>\n

The tattoo had been in the back of my head for a long time. In Chinese, Vi\u1ec7tnamese, and Thai mythologies, the dragon is ancient & wise. The old I can vouch for feeling these days; the wise I hope to grow into. Dragons in Western mythologies are there primarily, it always seemed to me, to serve as proving grounds for homicidal knights. And\/or to devour nubile maidens. But I’ve (obviously) never seen them that way.\"image\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As a child, I went w\/ my family every T\u1ebft to the annual dragon dance, known sometimes as the lion dance. My mother told me I too was a dragon (I think I’ve known this since was no older than 9). So I never rooted for the ‘heroes’ who slayed the poor dragon. I always rooted for the dragon.<\/p>\n

Later, the dragon became a kind of talisman for me. Fearless, winged, wise and just. It’s what I’d like to be. Still. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Once, years ago, a man on the bus saw my small ‘ink’ tattoo and said I didn’t seem like the kind of woman who would get a tattoo. Hmmmm.\u00a0Just what kind of woman DOES get a tattoo, Tom? And what kind of woman do you think I am?<\/em> The conversation went downhill pretty quickly ~<\/p>\n

Because poets are EXACTLY the kind of people to make metaphors concrete, tangible. I wanted ‘ink’ in my blood, hence my first tattoo so many years ago, while I was working hard to perfect my craft. Now? I want to go forward into these next years with wings. I want to fight for what’s right, and be able to tell the difference between attachment and justice. So my dragon is a doorway into that next place, a threshold space, if you will. A liminal space where beginner’s heart can continue growing.<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/a>It’s also art. Body art, yes, but I think it’s beautiful. I like the colours (each of which I discussed\u00a0ad infinitum nauseaum<\/em> w\/ Sean, at Infinity Tattoo<\/a> in Portland. And art — whether with a big A or a small a — is good, as Sean says. Always. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

I don’t think everyone gets a tattoo for the same reasons I have. But then, how many retired college professors have sons who want to go get tattooed together? And a fixation on dragons…? \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I ‘got inked’ with my younger son when I was in Portland last month. He asked, and I was charmed. I already have one tattoo — a small Chinese character for ‘ink,’ almost unnoticeable on my inside right ankle. This one is NOT unnoticeable. Friends vary in their reactions. Some were horrified (truly — you…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":398,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[165,196,37,580],"tags":[11,1181,1187,262,1310],"class_list":["post-6302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aging","category-art","category-family","category-tattoos","tag-beginners-heart","tag-britton-gildersleeve","tag-buddhism","tag-buddhist-blogs","tag-tattoos"],"yoast_head":"\ntattooed women & liminal spaces ~ - Beginner's Heart<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I 'got inked' with my younger son when I was in Portland last month. 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