No Ragrets

A Philosophical Musing on Tattoo Regret

By Kelsey Raynard

So long as men can breath or eyes can see,

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

- Sonnet 18 - William Shakespeare

When I was 18, I moved away from a stressful home situation to the big city of Ottawa in pursuit of an English degree. During my time there, I got my first ever tattoo: the quintessential 2012-era Pinterest birds breaking free from a cage on my shoulder. My favourite book was I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, and this tattoo perfectly represented my desire for freedom, independence, and exploration. 

Did this tattoo show up on the shoulder blades of many young millennial women at this time? Yes it did (bonus points if your birds are evolving from the seeds of a dandelion). Is this tattoo now a faded reminder of a very young, naive, and perhaps unoriginal time in my life? Also yes. Do I regret this tattoo? Never.  

People regret tattoos for different reasons; perhaps those images are tied to past relationships, beliefs, losses, or periods of time that are different from who they are now. Tattoo removal or cover-up is almost always an option, but it begs the question: if you remove the tattoo, is that truly rewriting your past? Or does it simply erase the reminder? 

Looking back on my tattoos allows me to reflect on and ultimately accept who I was and where I was at those times in my life. I inevitably feel different than I did when I got them because I am different. To erase the words and images that once meant a lot to me doesn’t erase the fact that at that time, they did in fact mean a lot to me. Tattoos, in my humble philosophical opinion, are simply artifacts of our past selves. They are a visual diary of our memory, representative of specific times and people and places that meant enough to consider etching them on our skin forevermore. To some, this thought is daunting enough to deter them from tattoos altogether. 

If you have a tattoo idea that you have been thinking about for a long time, or that means something to you, but have abstained because of fear of one day regretting it—what exactly do you fear regretting: the tattoo or the sentiment? What if one day you regret not getting it? 

Trends of all types—tattoos, hairstyles, fashion, décor—inevitably die. It does not matter how timeless you think something is; one day someone will look back and scoff that anyone could have ever thought that looked good. Now, you can either be restrained or freed by this fact, with tattoos and beyond. Embrace what you like now, knowing that no amount of trendiness or timelessness will ever change the fact that at one point, you liked it. And that’s okay. 

I don’t want to paint all tattoos with the same brush (pun intended); tattoos that were done poorly, or under the influence of substances, can obviously carry a different weight and meaning to them. Ultimately, we are all free to do what we want, including to remove every tattoo we’ve ever got (if we have the money and pain tolerance to do so).  

However, can you look with love and fondness at the Chinese symbol for peace on your arm, the butterfly on your lower back, or in my case, the birds on your shoulder? Can you celebrate the images that at one point made you feel connected, or confident, or independent? Can you revisit the past versions of yourself and accept them fully, however cringe they might seem now? 

In the words of our modern day philosophers, #YOLO.