Day 712

Today is the day I get my tattoo and it felt worthy of a post.

712 days ago, I made a plan on how to quit drinking successfully. One element was a system of small rewards leading up to a big reward, this tattoo, to celebrate and mark 1 year sober.

Almost 2 years later, I’m finally getting it done.

And I want to document what it means to me, here, as reference to come back to if I’m ever questioning my decision (both on sobriety and on the tattoo).

The design is a thin band around my left forearm. The band will be interrupted or broken at one point to symbolize breaking the bonds I had with alcohol. And as the years are moving by, I’m realizing that taking that step gave me the freedom and awareness to break other, less visible bonds, and to create healthy boundaries between myself and those close to me. So the meaning of the tattoo has grown to encompass a process of letting go. Shedding the expectations of others, discarding the responsibility for other’s emotions, letting go of the things that have been holding me back.

I’m hoping that the design will also show a continuation of the path I’m on, in some way. That the process is not done, it has just begun. It is a work in progress.

Leaving now, with naked skin.