The Deepest Ink I Have

"The atoms of our bodies are traceable to stars that manufactured them in their cores and exploded these enriched ingredients across our galaxy, billions of years ago. For this reason, we are biologically connected to every other living thing in the world. We are chemically connected to all molecules on Earth. And we are atomically connected to all atoms in the universe. We are not figuratively, but literally stardust." - Neil DeGrasse Tyson

 

I got my hands tattoooooooooooooooed.  Specifically, my knuckles.

Job killer. 

They're huge.

I generally try not to make a huge deal out of my new tattoos, but these make me so happy.  It's like they were always supposed to be there but they weren't.  And now they are.  They may battle the heart bombs on my neck for the title of "Sophie's Favorite Tattoo".  I know. 

They say STAR DUST, which is a sentiment shared by Neil DeGrasse Tyson, which is an extrapolation of a sentiment by Carl Sagan.  Science has proven to us that all of the atoms in our body: the carbon, the nitrogen, all of it, can be traced to exploding stars billions of years ago.  Light years away, the elements in our tiny yet narcissistic vessels were traveling through meteor showers and galaxies.  Now they are us.  Eventually, who knows where they will end up.  It's amazing.  It's humbling and empowering all at the same time. 

It's why I'm so enamored by outer space.  The whole idea of looking down onto our dysfunctional and dying planet, which is constantly in some state of terror and disaster and war and famine and greed and bigotry.... from up there, there is no line drawn from one area or one kind of person to another.   Even the separation of the human species to other animals is lessened.  We're all on this blue mass of rock together, and your money and your religion and your prejudices... they don't mean jack shit.  I'm not sure if hate can be felt from space, but I'm sure that a sense of  pure love and wonder and the understanding that we don't understand, it can be felt.

At the same time, we are all so small, but we are huge.  We are made up of particles that have traveled from all over to form our bodies for our short lifespans.  Our brains, which are barely able to grasp the most simple ideas regarding this giant black pond that we call our universe, are MADE UP from that same universe.  We are quite literally the universe experiencing itself. It's not fate or destiny or god or any of those things that we create to make ourselves feel important and safe.  It is what it is, and it's amazing! And it's just the tip of the iceburg.  We have so much more to learn, about our bodies, about our planet, about our solar system, our galaxy, our universe, and possible other universes! 

And now I can be reminded of that every time I look down at my hands. 

To answer your question, yes, it hurt.  Hell yes. 

I would also like to promote my tattoo artist, Tony Klett.  He is an amazing traditional artist and an allover badass human being with a great beard.  He's currently at Urban Art Tattoo in Mesa on Country Club and University Dr.  You can check out his work on Instagram: TEK9INE