The Thoughts Before Ink

If you had to get a tattoo right now, what would it be and why?

By: SodakArtist

So I’ve been craving a tattoo for the past few months, and seeing this prompt just makes me want one even more. The sad thing is, I have no idea what I would even want to tattoo on myself or where I would want to put it. All my tattoos have thought and depth behind them. They aren’t just impulses. Most of them are things I created, things I drew and eventually tattooed on myself, and every one of them has a story or some kind of significant meaning behind it. So not having an idea yet made this prompt a little frustrating, but I had actually been halfway working on an idea that might just be the answer to this question.

At the very top of the design is what looks like a little eye, but it isn’t simply an eye. I designed it so that it can also be seen as a flying saucer with tractor beams coming down from it. The eye represents perception, awareness, and consciousness, while the flying saucer adds that strange, otherworldly feeling that I naturally gravitate toward. There is also something about the idea of an eye looking down from above that makes me think about observation. What are we observing, and perhaps more importantly, what is observing us?

That’s where the design starts getting interesting to me, because the symbols can begin changing meaning depending on how you look at them. One interpretation is that the large eye represents the human being while the smaller eye represents consciousness. The straight lines connecting them can represent energy, thoughts, information, or consciousness constantly being transmitted between the two. We are physical beings, but we are also constantly experiencing thoughts, emotions, awareness, and everything else happening within the mind. The lines become a visual representation of that constant communication between the human being and consciousness.

Then there is the large triangle surrounding everything, and this is one of the parts that really caught my attention while developing the design. I don’t see the triangle as simply another geometric shape added because it looks good. I can see it representing reality itself. The interesting part is that those lines don’t end at the eye; they continue outward and end within the triangle. If the eye represents consciousness and the triangle represents reality, then the image can be interpreted as thoughts, energy, and consciousness constantly moving into and interacting with the reality around us.

But there is another way I can look at the exact same image. The large eye could represent God, while the smaller eye represents the individual human being. If we are made in the image of God, then that smaller eye could symbolize the divine consciousness within the human being. That brings in the idea of God’s breath being placed into humanity and the possibility that there is something of the divine within each of us. In that interpretation, the image becomes less about simply looking at God and more about recognizing a connection between the Creator and the Creation.

And then the little eye being a flying saucer opens up an entirely different door. Something is coming from above, looking down, and transmitting something through those beams, while the larger eye below is looking back. That creates this strange relationship between the observer and the observed. Are we looking at something outside of ourselves, or are we actually looking at another representation of ourselves? Is consciousness observing reality, or is reality observing consciousness? Maybe the answer depends entirely on where you are standing when you look at the image.

That’s also why I don’t want to give the tattoo one single meaning and call it finished. I like the fact that the same symbols can represent a human being and consciousness, consciousness and reality, or humanity and God. The design can even be interpreted as a visual representation of the idea that what we perceive, what we think, and what we experience are all connected to the reality we live within. To me, that’s much more interesting than creating a tattoo that only has one explanation.

The geometric structure surrounding everything gives the tattoo an almost esoteric feeling as well. The symmetry and shapes remind me of sacred geometry, ancient mystery traditions, and even imagery with an almost Masonic appearance. I’m not saying the design is a Masonic symbol or that it belongs to any particular tradition. I just like the feeling that kind of imagery creates. It makes the tattoo look almost like a diagram to something that hasn’t been completely explained yet.

I think that’s what I really want from a tattoo. I don’t necessarily want something that explains itself the moment someone looks at it. I want something that makes people wonder what they’re looking at and perhaps come up with an interpretation of their own. I want to be able to explain what it means to me, while still leaving enough mystery for somebody else to see something completely different in it.

(I would love to hear, what you see when you look at the design, so please go ahead and me by leaving a comment.)

That’s how most of my tattoos have always been. They’re pieces of my story that happen to be permanently drawn with the mesmerizing feel of getting a tattoo done onto my skin. Every line, symbol, and idea has a reason for being there, even if that reason isn’t immediately obvious to somebody else.

So if I had to get a tattoo right now, I think this might actually be the one. Not because I randomly decided that I need another tattoo, but because this is one of the few ideas I’ve been working on that has already started developing a meaning of its own. The more I look at it, the more ways I find to interpret it, and honestly, that’s probably exactly why I’ve been drawn to it.

Maybe I’m not looking for something to simply put on my body.

Maybe I’m looking for the next piece of my story to put there.

Thanks for reading, and as always, thank you for taking a little time to step into my mind and see the world through my eyes.

— SodakArtist—