Decay and Inevitable Death

I've broken my five year hiatus and gotten another tattoo. Let me share what it means to me.

The basic idea is "decay and inevitable death". This means that no matter what we say, do, or accomplish as human beings, we are ultimately ephemeral. We will age as time goes on and we will inevitably die. This sounds incredibly morbid, but it's important to accept that fact and move on.

I felt strongly about getting a tattoo encompassing this idea because I have had a series of miniature mid-life crises the past few years related to my health. I have a hernia which gives me constant pain at inconvenient times. I also permanently damaged my wrists and can't put significant weight on them anymore. I also get extremely sick from too much sugar consumption (so much so that I've cut sugar almost entirely out of my diet).

Outside of health problems, I've also aged. I'm now 26. I'm closer to 30 than 20. I need more sleep to function during the day and I tire more easily. I'm getting physically weaker and can no longer run as much as I used to.

If that wasn't enough, I'm losing a lot of the skills I once had. My personality has changed. I've matured a bit.

All of this was very hard to grapple with at first. I even had nightmares about dying, getting old, and not being able to move anymore. Fortunately, I've learned to accept my faults. Even though my physical body continues to wear down, I am continually learning new things. I have picked up new hobbies and have learned new skills. I'm the happiest I've ever been in my life. Although aging and death are scary, they are also good things.

How do these ideas translate into my tattoo?

I first wanted a bone to represent my mortality. To represent continual decay, I decided to draw bandages around the bone to indicate futile attempts to repair my flesh. Then, I really wanted nails in the bone to symbolize being chained to my fate of death. I also wanted nails to represent my interest in home renovation and construction.

I used "Dio's bone" from Stone Ocean as a bone reference, then borrowed the idea of "runes" or "etchings" on bandages from Jujutsu Kaisen. I put a lot of inside jokes and fun little references in those etchings for myself to laugh at in the future.

I was tattooed by Rob from Evolved and I'm very pleased with the result! Rob is very efficient and a very talented artist.