Why'd You Get a Watermelon Tattoo?

Sometimes, you just have to live a little.

I got my first tattoo when I was a junior in college. It's three tiny stars on my wrist copied from the pages of Harry Potter. I saw it on Tumblr a million years ago and planned on getting it ever since.

Three and a half years later, I had a dozen other tattoo ideas saved on my phone, yet the stars remained my only ink. I love tattoos, but I kept going back and forth on which one to get next. I'd ask myself, would I want this crescent moon to show in my wedding photos? Would I really want Tinkerbell behind my ear for the rest of my life? What if I get a sunflower on my arm then want something else in that same spot a year later?

My inability to make a decision mixed with my body dysmorphic disorder lead me to have a Pinterest board full of tattoos I'd never get. This spring, on my journey to healing myself or whatever I decided I was going to get a spontaneous tattoo. While this may seem like the norm for many people, it was something I never would have done a year ago. I was too caught up in a spiral of what-ifs to let myself do something fun. But I decided I didn't want to live like that anymore, so there I was making an appointment the first week of my summer break.

Okay, but...a watermelon???

A watermelon is seemingly random, but that's kinda the point. In an effort to reclaim my body and have a little fun, I wanted something kinda silly and for no real reason. The more I thought about it, though, there seemed to be a slightly deeper reason behind my choice.

First off, Harry Styles.

Second of all, it's pretty ironic that the anorexic chick got a piece of food tattooed on her body forever.

The irony is what I love about it most. Watermelon is a food that makes me think of summer and sunny days. I get so worked up thinking about food, I forget to enjoy it once in a while. And watermelon is the perfect thing to make me smile. By getting this tattoo, I am reminding myself that I get to enjoy food, even though it has brought me a lot of distress and pain.

Although I love my tattoo, there is one tiny spot I'm not super happy with. I'm picky about line work, and there's a tiny blemish on one of the bottom lines. It's really only noticeable when I point it out, but when I first saw it my stomach dropped. However, I've decided I'm going to live with it. The whole point of the tattoo was to symbolize letting go of my fears and fixation on being perfect and live a little. So I'm going to really test my BDD and see if I can tolerate it.

Life is short. Get the tattoo, and eat the watermelon, too.