Technically It’s Art

Name the most expensive personal item you’ve ever purchased (not your home or car).

Last year when I answered this question I talked about my master’s degree being the most expensive item. I think technically it still is. Two years of grad school at about $2,000 per semester…it was a big investment. Still not using the degree for its intended purpose, but it has made a nice addition to my resume.

In my post last year, I also mentioned that I had some large tattoos that were expensive. Yeah, year ago Sarah didn’t have large tattoos. Present tense Sarah does. An item can’t get more personal than one that is permanently adhered to your body. Not even adhered, it is pretty much injected into your body for all eternity. Which, one of my artists has said lasts for about 4,000 years. If we could live that long, our tattoos would eventually disappear because our body is perpetually breaking down the ink.

Anyway, of the tattoos I have, my blue flowers were the most expensive.

The short-hand version of the meaning behind them is that when I taught in a Catholic school, everything about that environment was stifling for the teachers and the students. Even down to appearance. When the girls would graduate, they’d come back and visit with blue hair or some other wild modification to their appearance. It was their way of expressing their freedom. When I left that place, I felt as free as those blue-haired girls. So I got a bunch of blue tattooed on me because I wanted something more permanent than dying my hair blue. I also got tulips specifically at the top to represent the favorite flower of the moderator of an online knitting group I’m in who supported me through the year from hell that ultimately led me to freeing myself from that place.

I won’t say how much I actually spent on this tattoo. It was four sessions that were all at least 3 hours long. The artist charged $200 an hour, plus a tip for each session. I’m a generous tipper. Also, he was gracious enough not to charge me the full time he worked because he and I chatted a lot during that time and sometimes he would lean back and stop tattooing when he was making a point.

I will say though, that when I went to a different shop for my next few tattoos, the artist asked about my blue flowers and when I told him how much I paid, he balked and told me immediately that I was overcharged way too much. I can’t complain though, the blue flowers are worth it and the artist did a really good job on them. Especially considering I literally only told him I wanted blue flowers and where I wanted them. He took it from there and created something that I am proud to wear and show off. They are the reminder to myself that I really am free from an environment where I couldn’t be myself and was under constant scrutiny. It’s also a reminder that I will never let myself be in that place again. Not just that literal school, but any situation in my life. Which is why I am so adamant that I handle my current work situation in a way that the person who I’m having issues with knows that I will not put up with her.

So, my most expensive personal item is, technically a piece of art. It’s just art that I wear and can never take off.