Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Mini Hiatus with a Side of Vulnerability & Tattoos

I apologize for the silence of the past week... my personal life pretty much exploded and I needed to get away.

I usually don't do mushy, and I typically do not like to be overly-religious on my blog, but in light of everything in my life right now, I can only listen with an open heart and do little ballet steps around my room.

Hello, vulnerable Erin on her blog.

"There's a peace I've come to know, though my heart and flesh may fail;
There's an anchor for my soul; I can say, "It is well".
Jesus has overcome, and the grave is overwhelmed.
The victory is won, He is risen from the dead!
And I will rise when He calls my name; no more sorrow, no more pain;
I will rise on eagles' wings before my God, fall on my knees,
and rise."

I've been thinking about getting a tattoo for a couple of years now.
It's been a slow process, because I want to be REALLY sure I'm getting something that will be with me throughout my whole life. Being an artist, of course I have to draw the design myself.

When I lived in Italy, we went to quite a few different Italian cities to study the frescoes on the cathedrals, duomos, and churches. In Renaissance art, the peacock was often a symbol of rebirth and the resurrection, and appeared in a lot of images accompanying Christ. I saw the fresco to the left, and drew the peacock sitting in the window into my sketch-diary as a reminder.

Since then, I have wanted a peacock feather to be incorporated into my tattoo. Everytime in my life when I have felt despair, hopelessness, fear; especially during my lowest of lows, there has always been a quiet, steadfast, abiding faith, and after time has passed, a knowledge that I have risen, and can see life in a new light and continue on.

This weekend I visited one of my very best friends, who has been there for me time and time again, and we went to a banquet together; I was completely surprised and completely not surprised to find that my prayers were answered when I heard "I Will Rise" for the second time in my life; the first being when my boyfriend of 6 years left me suddenly, totally blindsided. I nearly burst into tears over my dinner roll at this fancy-pants banquet (which was actually quite lovely indeed), when I heard the line that struck me the first time, 5 years ago:

"There is an anchor for my soul".

There has been no greater truth I can confess in my life than this, and I am planning to design an anchor with a peacock feather intertwined, with that line under it. I'm hoping to get it tattooed onto my right wrist as a constant reminder.

Whoever you are, if you read this whole blogpost, thank you. I wrote this more for myself than anyone else; just one of those things you have to get out, you know? But thank you just the same.

"But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles. 
They will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint." - Isaiah 40:31

7 comments:

  1. I love the idea of your tattoo and how much meaning is behind it! Really beautiful. Now for the next hard part: deciding on the design. :) I spent two years drawing and redrawing my own tattoo despite how simple it was.

    p.s. I enjoy your mushy posts!

    ReplyDelete
  2. That will be an amazing tattoo.

    ReplyDelete
  3. this is your most inspiring post to date.

    gorgeous and stirring to the soul. He is risen, He is stronger! <3

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you girls so much for the support and love :) Glad my mushiness was well-received, haha!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I feel so inspired after reading this!
    That sounds like a lovely tattoo idea you have pictured. I hope to see your design, I am sure it will be stunning, as your art always is.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Danielle - Thanks :) I'm glad it was inspirational. I'll definitely be posting up the design when I end up sketching it! Thank you for the kind words!

    Sometimes I feel weird about getting too religious on here, since I don't want anyone to feel like I'm pushing it down their throats... that's not how I roll ;)

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...