Healing The Scars

I remember years ago when I had met a young woman who had slash marks across her wrists and forearms, and I didn’t understand why a person would do such a thing to themselves. At that time, I thought it seemed very extreme and almost self absorbing. Well, I’ve grown up a lot since then, and life will throw at us what we need to understand. Having personally  gone through depression and complete hopelessness, I now understand how a person could inflict such pain and abuse upon themselves. I have never actually gone through with the act of cutting, but I have felt the internal pain that would provoke the cutting. When a person aches inside so strongly, there is a feeling that if you make the outside bleed then maybe just maybe the pain will have a place to leak from. Sounds crazy, but unless you have been in emotional hell, don’t judge. 

For the most part, those that go through emotional hell are experiencing a temporary reality. What I mean is that, if life outside of themselves was different, they would be different people. (yes, I know,  that clashes with the reality begins within ourselves theory; but every theory has exceptions) Here's the thing...self-harm is most likely to happen to those between the ages of 7 - 17.  Especially girls. These are kids who are experiencing the world through the influence of others. Although I agree that some may have a physical chemical imbalance, I would have to say my opinion is that most are living in emotionally imbalanced home environments. And looking at the state of our society, I think my opinion has a lot of validity. 

So here’s the thing, what happens to these people when they get older and have taken control of their own lives and are creating a happy existence for themselves? Sadly, they still have the scars of their past as a constant reminder of the history they left behind. Well, maybe it doesn’t have to be that way anymore.

Tattooist Whitney Develle is a young woman who is turning self-harm scars into works of art. In 2016 Whitney created The Scars Project. For the past year she has been giving one free tattoo per week to those who are self-conscious of their self-harm scars. That project served over fifty people. 

Taken from Whitney's Face Book page:

Bio: “In 2106 I devoted my time to 'The Scars Project'. I decided to tattoo 1 free tattoo a week until the end of the year for those who had scars from previously inflicted self-harm or had suffered at the hands of abuse. It was my aim to remove the stigma behind self-harm scarring and bring some light back into the lives of those that were ready for a new chapter in their lives. Given the overwhelming amount of beautiful people out there that inquired I could not offer a free sitting to everyone, so I decided to offer discounted rates to anyone who was seeking to move forward from their past and embark on a new beginning.  I learnt so much along the way and met so many incredible people who have changed my life in more ways than one, I will forever be grateful. “

I have never personally talked to Whitney and receive nothing for this endorsement...but I am thrilled to support her work. Not only does she have a kind heart, but is also an amazing artist. 

Whitney is a third year tattooist from Melbourne, Australia. She is currently working out of the Sacred Monkey Tattoo shop.  You can find her at Whitney Develle Face Book Page

You can also watch this interview...      BBC interview

I personally would love to see other artist join in on  The Scar Project and watch it go viral around the world. 

#self-harm  #WhitneyDevelle  #women  #teens  #girls  #healing  #tattoo  #InkArt  #selflove  #BodyArt  #rolemodles

The Forest Awakens

I got my three little sparrows while on the grade eleven Spanish exchange program. The Spanish students had already stayed with us and it was our turn to go visit and stay in their homes. From what I remember, I wasn’t really serious about getting a tattoo there, but everyone was jumping on the bandwagon and getting really excited about it. Because I hadn’t planned on getting one, I decided to get something really small. I had always wanted a bird tattoo, so I decided to go with the sparrows because I really like them. Sparrows mean to come back home and to return to. I thought that was an interesting element.  I’ve always been interested in any kind of black bird.

So there we were in Spain and everyone was really getting into it and that created more excitement. I was one of the last people in the group to have it done. It was fun. Although it was a legit tattoo shop, it did feel a little bit sketchy. But the people we were with said it was the best in town, so we trusted them. The guy doing the tattooing was really nice. You have to be at least sixteen years old. I was seventeen. But it is funny because he didn’t even ask us for ID or our age.  It was really easy and took no time what so ever.  When he was doing it, I thought the whole time he was just doing the outline of the tattoo and then shading it, and so I thought ok this is starting to take a while and it's starting to kinda hurt now, but really it was only like a few minutes. And then he said, ok done. And I was like you’re done? I asked if he had just drawn the outlines, and he said no he was actually all done the tattoo. I thought that was crazy. I was so relieved and so happy. I really liked it. It was simple.

I thought by getting the three black birds it was a good start to what I ultimately wanted to have. I really like forest creatures a lot.  Eventually, I want my tattoo to be a forest with trees and different forest animals like a fox, a raccoon and other different animals. I would like it to be all intertwined together. 

So I really loved having my three sparrows and decided I was ready for more and I wanted to keep adding to it. That is when I decided to get the sun and moon tattoo. I wanted it to be intricate and connecting. So you can see that the three sparrows are flying beside the sun and moon. I wanted to make it all flow together and not be weird and disjointed. I like balance a lot. And I like the yin and yang symbols because they really resonate with me. The sun and moon together represent that. Two different elements and yet complete balance. I decided to get it done in black and white so that it would look faded and worn giving that ancient feeling to them. They turned out really well and I think It is a great beginning.     ~ Mikayla Kolody, Edmonton, AB. 

(commentary: Mikayla was on the same Spanish exchange program as my daughter Symarah. I thought it would be nice to have Mikayla’s post follow Symarahs so that it could expand on their adventure together)

Mikayla’s Shout Out: Mikayla is a university student and does not have a business to shout out to; therefore, she would like to send her shout out to Edmonton's Youth Empowerment & Support Services. By helping to empower our youth we are investing in everyone's future. 

Youth Empowerment & Support Services

   #sparrows, #tattoos, #girlswithtattoos, #sun, #moon, #Spain, #students