Recently, I've been thinking about getting another tattoo. I don't know why I want to go endure the pain caused by a needle piercing my skin a million bajillion times again, but I've been taking $100 out of my paychecks waiting for it to add up to the overall expense that my idea will end up costing me. I do know this: I'm not getting a tattoo just for the hell of it. I will admit to being influenced by those who suffer more than I ever did, and I really admire those who are brave enough to sit for hours without breaks and don't put up with those that will undoubtedly criticize and condemn - ain't nobody got time for that. The last thing anyone needs is to feel like they wasted their money and that their idea is stupid. They can either come to that realization themselves or they can go on loving what they feel is important enough to engrave into their skin.

The reason people have been "getting inked" since prehistoric times - this isn't something new. Humans still tattoo for the same reasons: the need to feel unique, fit in, or stand out. The operation, overall, is performed in order to feed everyone's appetites to receive responses from more people.

"Why do you like/want tattoos?" The answers vary.

My favorite response came from my best friend, who quickly responded, "Tattoos are the coolest way of being able to customize your body to the way you want in order to make yourself feel beautiful. But also, I love having art on my body. Getting tattoos is also a social thing where you bond over your artist. For the pain, I actually really appreciate it. "Beauty is pain." But the way I see it, I like having to endure it. It makes sitting there for hours seem like fun. Like if the whole process was painless, that would be lame. Because that would be more of the concept of putting a sticker on your body forever. And I love the pain because you get to see how much you can endure. Like I have about 22 hours of pain tattooed on me."

I get asked all the time what my tattoos mean and I love to talk about them. But there's always a part of me that feels ridiculous when I state why I have them on my body. This shouldn't be the case. I generally show interest for all tattoos I see and I make a point to ask. Even before I went through 20 minutes (altogether) of feeling like a cat was digging in to my skin over and over, I want to feel proud and have a conversation about why my tattoo is important to me, not being told, "It's going to hurt a lot when you decide to get it removed."

Don't let it phase you, and continue getting tattoos, no matter how much people seem to hate them. If you like them, that's all that matters. You stand out the way you want to, and if expressing yourself means tattooing your entire body with various images and verses, do it. It's your body, and you can do whatever the hell you want because this is America.