Once upon a time…
there was a little girl who wanted to be a rodeo princess when she grew up
but then life happened.
I grew up in the hot, high deserts of the Yakima Valley riding horses through orchards and not knowing the difference between a single or double-wide. I never thought I’d reflect back on these days and smile, but being raised in a barn has its benefits!
I was always fascinated and immersing myself in the realms of fantasy and fairy, and was lucky enough to have grown up in the time where artist Amy Brown was having a moment and could be found in every arts and craft store across the country.
“And then her heart changed, or at least she understood it; and the winter passed, and the sun shone upon her.”
— JRR Tolkien, The Return of the King
Before I started my journey to becoming a tattooer, I was an avid collector and found that it helped me like nothing else could when it came to my mental health. I might not have respected my body enough not to self-harm, but I loved the art on my body which gave me a sense of pride and self-esteem that I had never experienced before. It was one of the few times I had that extra “pep in my step.” I slowly started to piece together that tattoo should be my healing medium. I want to help people transform their relationships with their bodies, a,d their circumstances; whether it’s to help process grief, act as a totem of strength, or simply to adorn in self-expression, it’s all important.
I’m not in this to see MY art on other people’s bodies; that’s far from the reason I am passionate about tattooing. I consider myself a conduit for something larger, I’m just here to help your vision bend a reality. People get tattooed for a variety of reasons; to heal, to process, to adorn, to remember, to forget, to laugh… My purpose is to take these thought forms and turn them into something tangible.
The intersection of mental health and tattoo…
How are we supposed to make ourselves well again if we are not given the time to do so?
Depression and anxiety are no strangers to me. I got my first diagnosis, medication, and therapist at 13 and was hospitalized with my first panic attack at 14. After this last run in with domestic violence I decided to go back, but it’s been touch and go. I will be writing about my journey with the mental health/medical industries, but that’s a project for another time. I have spent my life up until recently watching it go by, too exhausted to even get out of bed. Years. Decades.
And I’m not alone in this.
During the 2020 Quarantine, in a peaceful moment of time when my abusive ex was travelling for work, I went down the rabbit hole of pursuing an active spiritual practice. Most stories I’ve heard from peers start with eating mushrooms, DMT, or other mind expanding drugs, but mine started in the first and only time in my life of complete sobriety. My mind was clear, I just started receiving Reiki sessions, and was spending hours scouring for binaural beats and guided meditations. During one, seemingly random and sterile, guided meditation to “reset the parasympathetic nervous system” I had a full, out of body experience where I met my soul. This is also a story for another time, but so ended my pledge of atheism that had been proclaimed in my early teenage years.
If you’re interested in hearing more about my journey into the woo and the world of trauma healing, be sure to follow my little corner of the internet meant for such musings.
Life finds a way
I now spend my days taking a little more time for myself than the workaholic self of previous years hoping to find a more balanced, fulfilled life. Instead of an expansive vegetable garden (an interesting choice for someone who doesn’t like to cook) I now tend to an ever-growing number of houseplants and my sweet baby angels.
Mental Health Awareness
Astrology Nerd
Tarot Reader
Not all magic is woo!