TAT ME UP!!!!!!!
Thursday September 22, 2011 5:45 pmI don't know if it is anything more than the fact that today is the last day of summer, or if it is just the breeze in the air as fall approaches which causes me to feel wistful, and I find that I have certain yearnings and many tugs on my heart. Regardless the reason, I found myself lost in thought today (while at work) and I began to think back on my life and try to imagine what events transpired that caused me to be where I am today? Anyway, to the best of my knowledge there has been five things which happened in my life that I can honestly say were life-changing... and each one set me on an immediate and completely different course.
Last week (from Saturday through Friday) there were only 83 souls who paused to read what I had written on my blog. I suppose it is because of blogs like I am planning to write today is the main reason why the numbers are as low as they are at this present time. Although, even if the numbers were 10,000 times greater than what they were last week, and everyone read what I write today, still... not a single soul could possibly know what each of the life-altering events were in my lifetime. In fact, apart from God and myself, and we're not talking, there is only one person in the world who knows what each of my experiences are that I am alluding to... and I do not believe this person any longer reads what I write? So, today might well be an exercise in futility, both for myself and those who choose to read this particular blog.
Andy Kaufman, at least for his day, was a talented and funny comedian. Yet, almost all who knew him realized that he would have been better received by the general population if many of the jokes and stories he told had been saved for only a select group of his inner-circle. Some stories he told weren't funny because the audience didn't have any of the back-story which would have been necessary to appreciate the joke. Yet, he constantly told stories and made jokes to large crowds of complete strangers that would have been suitable for his closest friends only. I tell you of him because today I do something very similar. Perhaps though, even those who will have no idea what things forever changed my life... maybe, just maybe, you might have a moment of introspection and decide to make your own list of events which dramatically and forever-more changed your life!
There have been a sum total of five events in my lifetime that completely changed me. One of the five events I walked through the door with eyes wide open. There were two others that while it is true that I willingly walked through the doors which were presented, I honestly had no understanding what lay ahead. Then, there were two life-changing events that I feel I did not so much choose to participate, rather it felt as if someone... or some force more powerful than I chose them for me.
Instead of relating what each one was, I am simply going to give my age when each one happened. The summer I was 13 was forever life-changing. While it is true that there was an initial catalyst... the entire summer changed me forever.
I was 17 when when my life took another 180 degree turn.
19 was the next event where things were again turned upside down.
26 was the next milestone year and finally, I was 33 when I had my last life-altering event.
Although all of these events were important in their own way: yet, there were two that surpassed all others in how I was affected. Because of the fact that I feel like I was “marked” by those two experiences, today and for the first time in my life I have decided to get a tattoo. Which (again) because of the symbolism I have chosen to use for my tattoo, even if others see it once it is done... still, it will only mean something to me.
I am certainly no artist, but today I drew on a piece of paper what I want... now, I need to find someone who is talented in applying tattoos to render my poor drawing into a work of art!
I suppose if I get nothing else out of this blog today, perhaps I will have one of my readers who happens to know someone who could take my drawing and turn it into something beautiful, and then tattoo that onto my arm. So, if you know of just that right person please email me: clarkmatthews1@aol.com
Certainly I could go to a parlour and get this done. In fact, I checked before sitting down to type this and there are several parlour's in the Louisville area alone. However, because this will be the only one that I will ever get and because the idea of this particular one means a lot to me... I would like to find someone who is really good at doing such things.
posted by Robin Johnson @ 5:47 PM
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