My dragonfly tattoo!!! and what it means to me

• post a comment »

Yesterday, I finally got my dragonfly. It was partly a reward after finishing the medicine clerkship the week before. Kara, my best buddy for all things fun in Philly (cuz we MAKE them fun ) came with me for both the initial consultation and the actual deed yesterday. She already has a tattoo, so she helped me through the process.

Kara took some pictures, and I posted the rest here. The dragonfly is exactly as I want it, from the blue-green body to the melding of colors on the wings to the purple shadowy burnout. I will have to post more pictures once it is fully peeled and healed.

For me, the symbolism of the dragonfly has many facets. It transforms from a larva that lives underwater into a mature adult in a world that is much bigger than the pond from which it came. It emerges from the cloudy, sometimes distorted water world to fly through the air and sunshine, through the rain and wind as well. The dragonfly is beautiful and fearsome at the same time. It reflects a rainbow of colors in its wings, and it has a shiny coat of armor for protection. It is a solitary hunter. It is a giant among insects, but it doesn’t forget that to the rest of the world, it could be an easy breakfast.

I see in the dragonfly many parts of myself. When my parents separated several years ago, I had to re-evaluate how I was living my life, and I had to open old wounds of childhood that I had somehow repressed until then. The emotional and psychological struggle has been the greatest of my life, and it still continues. But I have come out of that dark period a stronger and better person. I feel as if I learned what it means to be an adult, separated from my parents, with my own perspectives on morality and my own principles to guide me through life. I don’t get along with my father, but I value my mother’s opinions and approval perhaps more than anyone else’s except my own. My mother is the strongest person I know. My mother is a dragon. Maybe one day I will grow from a dragonfly into a dragon myself.

back to top ^