The Ampersand Tattoo

When someone meets me for the first time, they don’t anticipate me to be the tattoo kind of girl. I got my first tattoo at 3am in the morning while partying at a tattoo artist’s home. It wasn’t a drunken mistake. It was an impulsive decision of something I had been thinking for a long, long time.

The best things in life often happen like this. You spend days and months thinking about whether you should or should not take that step and then one day something snaps. All of a sudden you find yourself right where you need to be and weighing the pros and cons isn’t even an option.

That is how my first tattoo, a Reiki symbol on my right shoulder happened seven years ago. 

After the first one, I knew I had to get a second tattoo. For over a year ideas were playing in my mind - favourite song lyrics, symbols, signs, mantras.. etc but nothing was touching my soul. 

A month and a half ago I finally figured what I wanted. I got my second tattoo today.

As soon as I put this up on Facebook, I got a lot of questions on what it represents. Why would I get the & symbol tattooed?

The Ampersand has a much deeper meaning for me than just being a conjunction. Because my life is an open book (or that is what a lot of people think due to the fact/fiction nature of this blog), here is what this tattoo means to me.

The word Ampersand is made up of two key words – Per se & And.

In Latin, per se essentially means by itself. My tattoo is a reminder to me that I am by myself through this life journey but there is always an ‘and’ so I should always keep the balance.

Secondly, the symbol signifies a broken infinity reminding me that nothing lasts forever but again there is always an ‘and’ …  more to what I can see. (I might just not know it yet)

Thirdly, according to me, it is one of the most beautiful symbols of the written language. It has evolved over the centuries taking different forms but essentially its purpose has remained the same.

I am a big believer in the cycle of the soul. To me this symbol represents the evolution into something beautiful, not just in this life but also over lifetimes. My tattoo will be a constant reminder to grow and chisel myself into the best I can be.

Fourthly, as a writer, this symbol is so, so important to me. I don’t think I could do without it!

Lastly the heart represents that I should never forget that whatever I do, however I feel and whatever life throws at me, I will still listen to my heart and I will always love unconditionally. Therefore the heart sits above the symbol.

I got this tattoo done in Vienna. Because travel is what I live for, getting this done while traveling in a country where my tattoo artist and I were communicating via sign language and intuition just makes it extra special.

He added his own special touch to it. The design I wanted had the heart straight on the ampersand pedestal. He made it a bit tilted. Apart from the fact he thought it flows with the design, he also said, I should always keep my heart flowing with love. (Or that is what someone translated from German  ;) )

Note: I got this tattoo done at Boris Tattoo Vienna. 
Details can be found here - http://www.boristattoo.com
Appointments are needed - book in advance. The only person who speaks English at the studio is the lady at the reception called Marita!