Tattoos. We all notice them... some of us more than others.

But have you noticed that the people who aren't permanently marked with the art of a tattoo are now the minority of our population? Tattoos have grown to be SO popular that almost wherever you go, you'll find someone with a little ink on their skin.

So why are they still incredibly unaccepted?

Most people that ask to see my tattoos say things like, "Wow, did that hurt?" or "Wow! That's a lot of ink!" And sometimes I don't know whether those are actual compliments or more so on the line of judgmental comments.

My ink is for me, though... not for anyone else. Saying, "you know you have to live with that forever, right?" is incredibly offensive to us "tatted" folk because, YES, we do know we have to live with it forever. That is WHY we chose it.

Freckles, stretch marks, tattoos, bruises, birthmarks, and scars are honestly some of the coolest things. You started with an almost blank canvas. And look at you now.

You have all this evidence that you have lived.

Tattoos may have originated with some sort of rebellion behind them, but now they're most often used as a form of art or self-expression. Most people with tattoos chose their ink based on what matters to them most. Therefore, assuming that tattoos are still a bad thing is just the opposite of the meaning we are trying to create within our individual pieces of art.

Tattoos are one of those things that you have to take to the grave. Having one (or a completely covered body of them) does not make someone a delinquent or a thug. It's art... and art is about creativity. It's about broadening the mind's horizon.

Tattooed people do not care if you are not tattooed... so why do those without them judge us so harshly?

Having tattoos and piercings should not make someone unprofessional. What's unprofessional, is turning down aspiring employment due to superficial reasons and not skill level or experience. What's unprofessional, is denying a person respect simply because they chose to use their body as a canvas instead of the traditional way. And lastly, what's unprofessional, is deciding what kind of person someone is simply because they didn't hide the fact that they love the ink embedded in their skin.

My tattoos remind me of who I am when I start to feel my identity getting blurred in the thick of life. They help me rediscover my roots if I ever lose sight of them. They're about memorializing something so important, it needs to be engraved on my skin.

My body is my journal, and my tattoos are my journey... so take it or leave it, because this is who I am.