- Knock Knock.
- Who’s there ?
- Tat.
- Tat who ?
- Not until you’re older!
In what might one day be considered by artists and poets as one of my starting points of turning myself into anything I think that I could ever be, quite a while back I was interested in buying new books.
So one barely sunny Sunday afternoon, I headed to the city centre and went raiding some bookstores. The plan was simple: loot a bunch of random interesting books and sort out the details later. This was the outcome:
Some philosophy (nooice), math (because I hate myself sometimes), “Songwriters On Songwriting” (a series of interviews with popular musicians on converting inspiration into song) and “The Book Of Ichigo Ichie” (health & wellness).
To be completely honest, I’m not a fan of wellness books in general at all. I threw in that last one because I’m fascinated by Japanese culture and I liked the book cover. (I’d love to visit Japan but haven’t yet found myself with enough cash & time at the same time).
I then placed the books in my living room and left them to breath some air for a few weeks or so, like we always should do with a nice red wine.
Since the weather was amazing last weekend, I spent the larger part of it outdoors. A Pride festival was also happening in the Vondelpark in Amsterdam, so I headed there for some music and beers.
After a couple of brewskis and in need of some rest from my poor, socially uncomfortable dancing skills, I took a break and went get spread out my towel in the grass, get some sun and kickstart some reading.
I had brought “The Book Of Ichigo Ichie” in my backpack because I had been really curious about what it was all about. As I started reading it, I became fascinated with the writing style and the vivid mental pictures that the stories in the book were brushing in my mind, while also learning some more details about Japanese culture and traditions.
Ichi-go ichi-e [“one time, one meeting”) is a Japanese four-character idiom that describes a cultural concept of treasuring the unrepeatable nature of a moment. The term has been roughly translated as “for this time only”, and “once in a lifetime” (source: Wikipedia)
Tattoos are something that have been on my mind through out my life. Until I found this book (or did the book found me ?) and “Ichigo Ichie”, I had never really found something that was meaningful enough to me, to the point of wanting to etch it into my soul.
So when I saw the characters for “Ichigo Ichie” while holding the book with both my hands, a lightbulb went up and my mind was set.
ζ δΌ
I worked near the Dam Square for a couple of years and knew there were a couple of decent tattoo parlours in that area. I checked out Ink drinkERs/LovelornTattoo, their work seemed good and had decent Google reviews, so I dropped in for a walk-in appointment and bob’s your uncle.
Jen, LovelornTattoo, was just amazing, super friendly, professional and caring. She spent more time providing me information/guidance through the whole process, than actually inking me. The whole experience was super smooth and after a couple of hours I was out in the world again with these two babes under my arms:
“I’m even more cool beans now I guess” - this author (2014)
The tattoos are actually inverted. They’re facing towards me, which apparently is very unusual since they’re mostly meant to be seen by other people.
I chose this very consciously because, for one, I’m kinda narcissistic :p and the tattoos are for myself.
To help me be more aware of the now and remember myself to enjoy the moments I’m living.
Enjoy what comes without worrying too much if I’m living them to the fullest or not.
There’s a second, half altruistic reason, which I will keep as a secret until and if that moment ever comes again.
All of this has been part of my experience of rewriting myself. For example I quit smoking a week ago. Even tho it hasn’t been that long, for smokers a week is an eternity.
Apart from some ruffff after-effects (smoking affects dopamine production which reportedly affects sleep patters so insomnia has been a thing), what I’ve been feeling is perplexion on how deep the grip smoking has had in my life. For the first time in a long time, I can honestly say I feel energetic and happy.
I even signed up for a summer rowing course near work which starts soon and I’ve been super excited about it. The river is my second mother and she wants me back.
Oh and, “What Makes A Good Man” is a song by “The Heavy”, which is a band I have been listening again. As far as I remember, I’ve known that song since playing “Borderlands : The Presequel”, which came out in 2014, so it precedes most other shows it has been used on.
If “Suits” and whatever, want to take that song from us Borderlands fans, they’re going to have to fight us. Pistol duels are from 9 to 5, with one hour for lunch break!
If you’re not familiar with them, I am even going to embed the video to make it easier for you. You will click it and listen, because they’re really f… good!
I’m going for some ice cream now.