Amy Lu's View

My temporary tattoo that says “Be Present” is fading away more quickly than I was prepared for it to.

If I view my tattoo as an aid in realizing a spiritual truth, this is highly appropriate. My tattoo is a real-time lesson that things don’t last, everything is ephemeral, and all we have is this moment and we need to fully live in the moment to truly experience and savor life.

Intellectually I get this and I aspire to mindfulness, but in actuality, my mind, body and soul are usually lightyears away from the present. To quote Master Yoda’s description of the young Luke Skywalker: “Never his mind on where he was, hmm? What he was doing. Hmm. Adventure. Heh. Excitement. Heh. A Jedi craves not these things.”

I wouldn’t exactly say I crave adventure (unless you define adventure as a band gig or a theater performance or Happy Hour with friends or a glass of red wine) but I am usually craving things. So I’m also usually planning how to make these things happen, and sometimes (but not as much as I used to) worrying about how my plans are going to go.

Yes, yes, I know Master John Lennon, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”

I live in the past, too, and certainly spend time re-hashing it. Luckily, I beat myself up over past mishaps much less than I use to, probably in large part due to the influence of Chad’s “that’s over so I’m over it” attitude. I do think I would benefit from a little more reflection (not critical obsession) on the past, especially taking time to enjoy life’s wins, big and small. I want to learn how to give myself a metaphorical cookie.

And I want to treat myself with more temporary tattoos. I’ve become surprisingly enamored with these mini words of wisdom that I discovered as a form of marathon inspiration. The company I get them from (Conscious Ink) sells tattoos for all kinds of circumstances, and my current “Be Present” tattoo was part of a grab bag. I love my tattoos that I associate with the marathon, but I also like the idea of a having a changing variety of wise sayings that I can interpret in different ways.

Although it’s a bit hokey, I like how “Be Present” can also take on a different meaning in this season of presents. Being present with others is really the best present we can give and receive (not claiming I came up with this idea)—which doesn’t mean that I’m opposed to actual tangible presents. Let’s not get radical here.

I’ve already blogged about the unexpected meaning in my “Choose Love Now” tattoo, and I have an aspiration to keep blogging about the wisdom of my tattoos. (“Aspiration” sounds so much more spiritual than “plan”).

Which does bring me back to the tragedy of my fading temporary tattoo. Although these tattoos are designed to fade away, I’m discovering that they do so more quickly in the winter. I like having the tattoos on my forearms where I can easily see them and remember their inspiration. Someone in church asked me if my tattoo was “instructions” and that seems really apt, so I want to be able to see my instructions. Unfortunately, the long sleeves I wear more frequently now that the weather is cold rubs on tattoos on my forearms, and I really can’t think of anywhere that I don’t wear clothes at this time of year. I guess my face is (usually) free of clothing, but again, I can’t easily see that.

What to do? I’ve considered filling my tattoo in with a Sharpie, reminding me of the days when I used to draw “AC/DC” on my brother’s forearm at his request when he was in high school. Yeah, we were badass out there on the tundra in 1982.

So I’m off to make a temporary tattoo maintenance plan….