Like most children (I think?) I spent time wishing I was different than I really was. I wanted curly red hair, I wanted to be named Kelly, I wanted to own an ice cream shop... and I really wanted to be a superhero. My superpower of choice would have been shapeshifting.
Much to my chagrin, of course, I did not grow up to be a superhero. Or so I thought. One evening like many others with my husband, there was a Scrabble game. I am typically our scorekeeper, and every game begins with players deciding what name they choose for the game. Tonight, I wanted something fabulous. “I’m going to be The Pink Falcon!” Thus, my alter ego was born.
Fast forward approximately 3 years to my diagnosis with Multiple Sclerosis. (Side note if you don’t yet really know me: I am quite healthy, my MS is well managed, and I’ve had very little if any progression of the disease since diagnosed.) In the year following my diagnosis, my Pink Falcon alter ego started feeling more and more significant. MS is a bizarre, confusing, and frightening disease because there are zillions of things it can do to a person, but there is no way to predict what/when/how any disease related challenge(s) will manifest. My superhero persona seemed like an important tool as I learned about my disease. I started wondering if in any way Multiple Sclerosis might be my superpower?
Before I knew the thought had really formed, I found myself telling my husband, then my coworkers, then other folks: “I think I’m going to get a tattoo.” My PF tattoo was born a few months later. I decided The Pink Falcon was probably Nordic, hence the Viking helmet. When my first ever tattoo session was finished, my artist Woody said “So do you think you’ll have any more tattoos?” I answered with confidence and certainty. “Nope. I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure I’m a one-tattoo person!”
Yesterday, we began work on my 6th tattoo. So apparently I was wrong. My ink is all brightly colored, and relatively large to some eyes. Everything I have, with the exception (sort of) of The Pink Falcon, comes from the stories of Norse mythology - specifically characters & images from the world tree Yggdrasil. I have two other tattoos in the planning stages, plus some background work in relation to the sleeve work started yesterday. I will share some photos and stories of my other ink here before too long.
The irony of my tattoos - ultimately being intentional scars - juxtaposed with my Multiple Sclerosis (“many scars”) is not lost on me. I find it difficult in ways to explain what my tattoos mean to me as a whole, but a lot of it is simply the stories. The stories of the characters I have chosen to add to my story. The stories of mythology in general, requiring both good and bad and the resulting balance. The stories of me, and of my MS.
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