I had been trying to come up with an idea for a tattoo for a while, but I knew that it had to speak to the changes I’ve been going through in my life.

I think back to the early 2000s when I was hooked on Everquest and World of Warcraft, weighing in at 400+ lbs, an untreated diabetic, and generally sucking at life. I didn’t have any direction, any desire to do anything better for myself, and there wasn’t anything forcing me to change it.

Fast forward to 2011.

I’ve lost 175 lbs, about 33% body fat, and my addiction to MMORPGs is a thing of the past. Taking its place is my love for Zumba® Fitness, helping out by teaching at benefits, and traveling the country teaching folks how to use a particular suite of software (SolarWinds). Winning at life.

I chose two characters in Simplified Chinese: the former meaning “to turn, rotate” and the latter meaning “to change” and together “transformation” or “a marked change in appearance or character, usually for the better.” I had considered a Koi drawing depicting the change from fish to dragon, or possibly a Phoenix, but this seemed to be the most straightforward option.

Now, the experience. I had this explained to me a dozen different ways. Everything ranging from “it doesn’t hurt at all” to “it feels like a cat scratch over and over.” The second was probably the most accurate for me. It would have been nice if someone had explained that the shading and the outlining feel different. It would have probably helped me not feel so queasy thinking that I was going to have to sit through another half hour of the outlining – which I found to be the least pleasant part.

On to caring for the thing. 7 days of cleaning & ointment followed by 2 more weeks of lotion.