Tattoo: beauty and tragedy of incompletion
There is a ladder in the centre , a ladder of becoming , not a ladder that leads to a designated destination.
every rung is a self that existed to give birth to the next one
the foot of the ladder is engulfed in flames. These flames are not hell or anything like that, these flams are the cost of existence
These rungs below are being consumed because life permits no return for you. There is no road back to 5 years ago or 10 .
There is no reclaiming a former innocence , a former ignorance , a former dream.
The fire is the terrible but beautiful law of life. Everything you become demands the sacrifice of every you were. Each rung an old skin that is gone now.
The child you were , the fool, the dreamer, the lover, the man you are today , and that man you will eventually leave behind too , and you will be locked out of returning to them, the bridge burns itself.
The child must die for the teen to exist The teen must die so the adult can exist
The adult must die so the master can exist The master must die so the old man can exist
The fire is not punishment
It is like transformation.
Many suffer from holding onto things , but the price of becoming is just letting go.
The struggler you were died so the successful you could live The successful you dies so the wiser you can live and so on.
At one age you think the top is wealth
At another age you think the top is peace
But there is no top on this ladder because life is participation as a process
And you never know which version of you you are saying goodbye to for the last time
Then there is the snake wrapped around in an unfinished circle.
( Some of the ladder sits below , this is to show that you that you were on your way into this world before tou were even born. )
With its jaw remained gently open like a crocodiles , in no rush to clench down , just waiting patiently just a breathe away. The circle is waiting to close. But it cannot. Because a completed circle is a completed life. And we both know completion only belongs to the dead.
Inside the gap left is every laugh not yet laughed , every love not yet discovered, every grief not yet endured , every mistake, every sacrifice, the good and the bad. It is all and everything to come. The gap is all life yet to happen.
This is not an orobus or whatever they are called.
We spend our lives trying to be complete but this art argues against.
That incompletion is the greatest privilege we posses. To be unfinished is to be participating in this miracle by God.
So until we are finished. There will remain a gap.
As long as you are growing , the snake must wait to bite down and close the loop.
And when you are done it will shut.
And above this all , rest two humming bird , unbothered by everything, they aren’t panicked , they aren’t afraid as they sit above the future , above fear , above the jaws of mortality.
Tney remain perfectly calm. Sitting above all worry , all trouble , all anything.
And their meaning come from something Jesus said about birds not ever having to worry because they do not need to because God looks after them , they are so calm because they posses trust that we sometimes fail to trust in God . The birds are calm even sitting by jaws because they know it will close them whether they worry or not.
They are not worried about the future because they know it will come whether they worry or not. Same with their ending. The birds know , so they are unbothered.
You are not supposed to finish the climb , but just to climb without fear or worry.
gracieabrams
germansingergirl
titsay
stormborns
