Originally Posted by ratbastid

You know, I never cared much for them for the longest time. I could appreciate other peoples', and that was fine, but I could never imagine putting one on myself, and anytime lurkette mentioned getting a tattoo, I was sort of against it.

Then I found this:



I know, I know, everybody's got chinese on them. I know.

That pair of symbols is "wu wei". After the notion of the Tao itself, wu-wei is probably the second most central concept of Taoism. Literally it translates to "no-action", and it expresses a way of being at one with one's surroundings and allowing one's actions to be given by and expressions of that oneness.

I'm not a Taoist exactly, but it's probably as close to what I'm working to create myself as as anything else commonly practiced by any world culture. And wu-wei is as close to what I'm out to bring myself into the world as as anything else I've ever seen.

Originally Posted by Ustwo

Don't see the point.

They fade, they don't make you look better, and they make you unique in that non-conformist conformist sort of way.

I don't have a problem with people who want to do it, or think less of them, but I don't think its the best decision you can make.

A good friend of mine had a small tattoo over her right breast in college done. Now in her later 30's you are lucky to tell its not a bruise.