Bellybutton jewels

• post a comment »

I’m a late bloomer about most things. Specifically, I never went through that rebellious phase that strikes some people during the teenage or college years. Once, I told my mom I wanted a tattoo, and she laughed. That was the end of that. Even my boyfriend at the time was like, "[skeptical]…How about getting a sticker." Way to shoot me down.

Then, a few weeks ago, I had recurring dreams about tattoos and navel piercings. Both are things I coveted at some point; neither ever happened. I had walked the straight and narrow in high school. When I came back to college after my year at Disney, I felt that I was done being a kid (HA! boy was I wrong ), that the time had come to grow up and get on with my pursuit of a career in biomedical science. Also, I was still very, very dependent on my parents while I was in college, and I wholeheartedly and ungrudgingly wanted to follow their rules.

Fast-forward to the past year. I’ve been doing a lot of random experimenting in various activities to figure out my values, identity, hopes, dreams, strengths, weaknesses, passions, abhorrences. I did things that I was always too afraid to do before: try and fail, take risks, sing my heart out. I believe that I have found, for the first time, a sense of independence, a centered confidence in who I am, what I have acquired, what I can learn and someday achieve.

Perhaps it is this confidence that has led to the bellybutton jewels. Who knew, not every navel is pierceable. And mine is not optimal, according to two separate consultations. It seems I don’t have as much of a skin lip as would be desirable, so I have a higher risk or rejection and extrusion. (FYI, I asked if I needed to be thinner, and it has nothing to do with body fat content.)

Luis, the piercer at No Ka Oi Tattoo, is perhaps the most reputable in his craft in this region. What’s more, he’s surprisingly academic about his approach; as a former biology and chemistry double major, he’s applied scientific principles to determine the efficacy of various techniques and aftercare procedures. He’s also a leader in APP, the piercers’ professional association. I had consulted with him a week ago, and he said because of my anatomy, my success rate was not favorable at around 30-50%, and I would have to take diligent care of the piercing just to get there. He agreed to pierce me only if I promised to come back monthly for check-ups, so that he could catch the rejection before it scarred terribly. That said, it was still a major risk of failure, and he encouraged me to reconsider.

Well, reconsider I did, and I opted to take the risk, although I really appreciated his honesty and integrity. You gotta love a piercer who’s on his game. I had read great things about him when I was researching navel piercings, and when I went to get pierced today, we had a great conversation in which his passion for his craft came through loud and clear. I have great respect for this dude. So if you’re looking to get pierced, check him out =)

As for my navel, I was nervous when the needle went through, but really, the pain wasn’t nearly as bad as the thought of that needle passing through my flesh. It was over before I knew it. The subsequent tissue swelling is actually more bothersome than the procedure — which is to say, it’s not much And now I have bellybutton jewels!

The tattoo? Stay tuned.

back to top ^