It never fails to amaze me how many people get a tattoo without really knowing what it means to them.  I’ll ask someone about an unusual tattoo they have and ask what it means, and more often than not, I’ll get a blank look back.  In many cultures, a tattoo has significant meaning and it’s a sacred practice.  This practice includes the art of producing tattoos and the images they contain.  Skull tattoos speak to a tradition of representation of mortality or in other cultures, it’s meant to honor the dead.   Similarly, heart tattoos often symbolize love or life, some with names embedded of loved ones, and others with thorns around the heart symbolizing protected love.  For example, the image of an arrow through a heart typically symbolizes some sort of heartbreak or love lost.  Symbols are iconic and powerful, and permanently applying them to one’s body is not a decision to be made lightly yet there are some who get them because they are pretty and interesting without meaning.  Maybe I’m being a bit too harsh here:  I just figure if you have artwork that will be on your body forever,shouldn’t it be something that means something to you?

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