THE MEANING OF MY MOST RECENT TATTOO

I’ve had a few days to get used to my new tattoo and people have noticed the new ink which is great, and it certainly has a bigger impact than the last tattoo that was there.  Once you get tattoos the first question people ask is what do they mean, and that was part of the reason I wanted to cover up my Zeme tattoo as I was tired of telling people of my failed relationship and looking like a goose for getting a name tattooed on my body.  I now know it was a stupid move, and sometimes you need to work these things out for yourself and I am happy to report that NONE of my friends have said ‘I told you so’ which I love them for, especially the ones that told me I was crazy when I had it done 18 months ago.   

So I got it covered 3 days ago and it is healing just nicely, as they always do.  The question of what does it mean comes up each and every time and it is funny because the reason I wanted to get it covered was to move on from the Zeme story, yet I am telling people it is a cover up tattoo for an ex-boyfriend that I had tattooed, it sort of defeats the purpose of getting the cover up if I am still telling people the story.  Albeit they cannot see the name anymore, so that has been dropped from the story, but it may not have been as clear cut as I had planned by just changing the tattoo.  In saying that, for me-there is a section of the tattoo where you can still see the old one, just a tiny section of the Z, and I have to say I like that.  Even though I wanted to get rid of the old tattoo, it was still symbolic at the time I got it done and it has got me where I am today.  Made me the person I am today and for that I DO want to be reminded.  I know it sounds so 'random' as it is just a tattoo, but for people who get these inks FOR LIFE, 99% of the time they do mean something life changing for them, and it would want to be, as they are going to be with you for LIFE and I sometimes think unless you have a tattoo, made that decision to have something on your skin for life, you can't 100% understand the feeling.   

So, after speaking to Elsabe about it during the week, she too asked to see my tattoo and I explained my dilemma and she said that a tattoo can mean whatever I want it to mean.  It just doesn’t have to be a cover up story or a tribal tattoo and she is right.  For me it means a new beginning, the past is the past, and I don’t have to keep looking at my wrist to be taken back to that past each time.  Then Elsabe came up with a word that I LOVED and I now have a meaning for my new tattoo. 

The word is Ubuntu.

Pronounced oǒ'boǒntoō

Ubuntu is an ancient African word meaning 'humanity to others'.

It also means 'I am what I am because of who we all are'.

And I have to say that sums up my now, my time in Africa and now it also sums up my new tattoo.  A new beginning and humanity to others as I forge ahead with my life in Kenya.

Pretty cool huh!!!!!!

I'm LOVING my newest tattoo and now I LOVE also what it now means to me even more than before.