It’s been more than a year since I got my first tattoo. Ever since I turned 18 it has been one of my unspoken items in my bucket list. Why unspoken? Because back in my younger days (ooooh….I just hate to say that!), getting a tattoo is something of a taboo. It’s commonly associated with bad ass-ery. An ex-boyfriend even told me that he would break up with me if I get one (“What are you? An ex-con?”). Well, the breaking up came first before the getting one so there’s not really a conflict.

The first problem that you will encounter when you decide that you’re ready for one is the design. After all, it is permanent and you definitely don’t want any permanent shit etched on your skin.  It took me a year or more to finally choose a design that I love. I admit, it’s not my original. I got it from the internet; on Tumblr specifically. I made some minor tweaks for it to jive with my theme.

Wishing to be free and to be on the right path — that’s what I was thinking of. Months before getting inked, I was in a really, really bad place. All I wanted to do is to shut out everything that has happened to me and to start anew. It was difficult moving on. I kept on internally blaming myself for everything that happened. With a dandelion to wish on, I want to be as free as the birds, going in the right direction, and not stumbling on anything like that again.

The tattoo artist managed to draw 7 birds and 15 dandelion stems without me telling him to. 7 is commonly known as lucky and 15 has always been my favorite number. That made it more personal (and cool) to me.

And now, a year after, I can say with a smile that I am indeed in the right place. I know that tattoos have no magical powers but this definitely served its purpose. This has been a constant reminder for me that wishes do come true and that you can be free if you really wanted to.