Goal 3 - Get a tattoo

Get a tattoo

I've wanted to get a tattoo for a few years now.

I wanted to make sure that I don't just get anything that I will regret later. Of course I can't ever be completely sure that I will always like it, but I at least can make sure it is something meaningful, something I want myself to remember always.

For quite some time now I have been sure about what I want to get. I am not initially as excited anymore as when I thought of it, which I think is a good sign because it means that even after my first moment of “what a great idea!” has ebbed I can still value the idea.

I have been going through some very nasty years and I want a tattoo that when I look at it will remind me of why I find life worth living for.

I want it on my right wrist, not too big, but so that I can always see it (if I want to, otherwise I can still wear long sleeves...).

I will try to do it in my handwriting and I want it to say “Ladies And Gentlemen, We Are Floating in Space”.

At first that probably won't seem particularly profound to but perhaps even slightly pretentious to some, so I want to explain what it means to me:

First of all, “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space” is the third album by Spiritualized, one of my favourite bands. It was released in 1997 and mostly deals with the break-up of Jason Pierce (who pretty much IS the band) and his long-term girlfriend Kate Radley, the keyboard player of the band. When they were on tour with my other favourite band The Verve, she fell in love with their singer Richard Ashcroft. While officially (and practically) still dating Jason, the two of them married in secret in 1995. Between then and the recording of the album there seemed to be a lot of to-and-fro-ing, until she finally left Jason for good. While a lot of the lyrics on the album seem to be directly written in reference to this, Kate still plays on this album. Shortly afterwards she left the band.

Now why do I tell this? Not because I'm keen on gossiping or because I want to spread misogyny around, no, but because I believe this is a prime example of the tragedy that is life, and what beauty, in this case this record!, can come out of it.

While it is not my favourite Spiritualized album (that would be their debut “Lazer Guided Melodies"), I of course also happen to love the music on it.

I particularly love “Cop Shoot Cop”, an epic slowly-built up song that I'd love to hear live on day

&

“I think I'm In Love" which feature some of my favourite

lyrics.

These words spoke to me at a time when hardly anything would. I was falling badly in love with my (now) boyfriend, but I was deep in my depression and highly doubted anything would ever come out of it.

I didn't even trust my own feelings and assumptions, never knowing what was in my head and what was reality.

I think I'm in love - probably just hungry
I think I'm your friend - probably just lonely
I think I'm alive - probably just breathing

I think I'm the best, babe - probably like all the rest

I think I'm in love

Jason Pierce originaly got the title of the album

from a novel.

“Sophie's World” (Sofies Verden) is a philosophical novel by Norwegian author Jostein Gaarder, published in 1991. It tells the stors of 14-year-old Sophie who encounters a mysterious mentor who introduces her to philosophy. Why does she keep getting postcards addressed to another girl? Who is the other girl? And who, for that matter, is Sophie herself? To solve the riddle, she relies on the works and thoughts of Socrates, Descartes, Spinoza, Hegel and other great philosophers.

When I was a child my family would always listen to tapes when we drove to summer holiday destinations. I would regularly fall asleep to them, a tendency I still possess to this day. While I even nodded of to Lord of the Rings (which led me to scary dreams!), Sophie's World fascinated me. While I was less interested in the story line, the philosophical thoughts deeply resonated within me. My family was rather bored by the audio book, but for me it was such an eye-opener.

I believe the effect this had on me as a very young girl can't be underestimated. It gave my thirst for knowledge and my love for questioning things a name.

I was always very interested in philosophy afterwards but too shy/unsure to “do” anything about it, and no one in my family was interested in it either. At 16 on my exchange year in Holland I had the opportunity to take a philosophy class. I would love to thank my teacher one day, because I'm not sure if without his great way of getting me sucked deeper into the fascination that philosophy is I'd now be minoring in Philosophy at university.

The line itself came from this wonderful passage in the book:

"Only philosophers embark on this perilous expedition to the outermost reaches of language and existence. Some of them fall off, but others cling on desperately and yell at the people nestling deep in the snug softness, stuffing themselves with delicious food and drink. 'Ladies and Gentlemen,' they yell, 'we are floating in space!' But none of the people down there care."

Now besides the explanations above of why this line is so meaningful to me, there is something else: While I can identify with the passage in the book, taken out of context the words get a slightly altered, more personal meaning for me.

“Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space” functions as a gentle reminder that life itself is relative. When I consider the universe in it's complexity and grandeur, and how small and insignificant I am in comparism, it does not depress me. On the contrary, it gives me an almost spiritual(!) feeling of being close to the cosmos and life itself, being part of all there is. A very strong sense of belonging.

When I worry about petty things, about how I look, about I am not “good” enough or about the real horrors of life even, it sometimes helps me to realize how little it all means to the universe itself. Life always goes on, maybe not mine, but “my” molecules do, they will give life to something else. Something equally unique and fascinating.

Why would I worry about what other people think of me, when their imagined superiority means nothing to nature, space and the world? Why would it matter to me then?

To be certain of my place in time and space reminds me of how precious this life is, reminds me to spend it on focusing on the things I love, the things and people I care about, to stand up for what I believe in.
After all, we are all just floating in space.

Now that I've explained WHY I want to get this tattoo, let me explain why this a challenge at all. I'm not really scared of regretting the decision to have ink in & under my skin, instead I'm a bit intimidated of going into a tattoo parlour! I'm sure there are trustworthy, very professional studios to be found in Berlin, but I tend to only walk past the ones that look horribly sketchy. So the first part of this mission is to find a tattooer I really trust my skin with.

….

Please put your sweet hand in mine
And float in space and drift in time.

(From the song “Ladies And Gentlemen we are floating in space”)