The Witty-Ingenious: Scars To Your Beautiful

Two posts in one month. Things are looking up, aren't they?

Tell me, what are your thoughts about scars? Do you see them as ugly? Are they one of the many things that 'need' to be covered? Marks that blemish a perfectly crafted skin? Reminders of what you would rather forget?

Or do they bring back memories of your past that give you encouragement? Signs that make you recall what you've been through and how you overcame? Do they add beauty to that canvas, like a new stroke of a paintbrush on a masterpiece?

Geez. That last line got me feeling like a bad ass poet right there.

Anyway, I digress. Where were we?

I have always been known as 'The Girl With The Hot Legs' all my life. Sounds corny, but true. Long, slender, straight, smooth - from my thighs down to my feet...all the works! God took his sweet time crafting these legs I tell you.

LOL, I actually won the title for 'Miss Hot Legs' in secondary school- Rainbow College to be precise, during one of our social nights and in several Slum Books.

Sigh. High school - those were gooood times.

Not to be all conceited or anything, but like an old friend once said, "If I no blow my trumpet, e go rust". I mean, sometimes being 'modest' isn't good for your self-esteem, and it took me a couple of yearssss to learn that.

I don't know how I did it, but I hardly ever got any wounds or scars on my legs, save for one time when I was a kid. It was an unconscious effort at first when I was much younger. But then, as I grew older, of course the adulthood mindset sets in and I got more conscious of it and made every effort not to smear my near perfect leg skin.

And that's the thing. Once you're so paranoid about something 'bad' that could happen, it eventually does - sometimes in the worst way possible.

Dial back to a couple of months ago in 2019. I was getting ready for work one morning around 6 am. So I bring out my dress from the closet, lay it on my bed, switch on the iron, and start well...ironing.

I was done so I unplugged the iron, held it on one hand, and then bent down to pick up my phone from the bed with my other hand. And then, my nerves on my thigh went ballistic because, yep you guessed right, I had burnt it with the edge of the iron.

My, oh my, was I in pain AND complete shock. Like HOW could this happen to me??? My pride. My joooy! My Hot-Fresh-Out-Of-The-Oven laps! Obviously that day - that WHOLE week at work was horrid for me.

Fast forward to trying to figure out ways to get rid of the scar - from scar removal creams purchased on Amazon to natural homemade remedies. Ko le werk. I even browsed through the laser scar removal option and then changed my mind when I saw how much the process costs.

And then, an idea popped into my head. I have always wanted to get a tattoo but because of my religious beliefs and other societal judgmental issues I never got round to it. So I thought to myself, what better reason to get one now than to cover the scar? And are tattoos really that big a deal? Hmmmm.

Thus, my research began, as I scouted the internet for tattoo designs that weren't 'too much' but 'much enough' to cover it all up. I asked friends and my sister for their opinions and kept going round in circles for about two months, because I mean, this is a lifetime decision.

I found a really good tattoo artiste, @fresh2defcustomsandtattoos online and discovered that one or two friends and acquaintances were his clients. That in itself was a good sign.

We discussed the cost, which was way above my budget, and as a result, made me start rethinking whether or not it was a good idea. So I decided to get a small tattoo, see how I feel about it for a couple of months, then save up for the major one on my thigh.

SLAP - Sounds Like A Plan! (Lol. I literally learnt this 'slang' from Deon Cole's special, Cole Hearted on Netflix last night and I just had to add it to my vocabulary)

I had settled on getting the Latin phrase - 'Veni Vidi Vici' on my wrist. It means 'I came, I saw, I conquered.'

I ran this by a few folks and the response from two of them stood out. They both said, "But Ify, you're still young and you haven't quite 'conquered' anything major just yet."

One thing about me is that I love tattoos that are symbolic to the people who have them. And to be honest, I just wanted this cause it's a bit unique and it would really look good as a tattoo. But does it resonate with me at this time? Nope.

So I went back to my research space and then found another Latin phrase - 'Memento Vivere', which means 'Remember to Live'. I just turned 29 - a reminder that before I hit the big 3.0, I better make the most of my last days in my twenties, no?

SLAP! Lol!

Before I changed my mind AGAIN, I quickly booked an appointment, made full payment, headed to the tattoo studio, which was miles away from home (thanks to my girls who took this 'road trip' with me) and FINALLY got it! *big grin*

Surprisingly, on a scale of 1-10, the pain level was a 3/4, and the process took all of 20 minutes. Dude even offered us drinks, gave me two bars of chocolate 'for the pain', he said, and gave us a full bottle of red wine to go. Talk about a five-star service right there!

Side note: I decided I'll get the VVV tat after I 'conquer' bungee jumping and skydiving on my 30th birthday next year - hopefully. And maybe one...or two more tattoos after that (side eye)

Oh, about my thigh? Am I going to get to get it covered you ask? According to my sister and a friend of mine, they pretty much both said it actually looks kinda beautiful - like a birth mark of some sort. Plus, I have gotten so used to it it's beginning to grow on me.

So to answer that question, nah. I don't think so. But who knows?

In the meantime (or more like when we are finally allowed to hangout after this Rona saga) imma whip out my shorts, mini skirts, and mini dresses, head out, and flaunt it.