welcome to my life, tattoo, we've a long time together, me and you, i expect i'll regret you, but the skin graft man won't get you

I got a tattoo last night. Well, to be honest, I got a temporary tattoo last night (I know, I'm such a badass). It's from this really fab kit of temporary tattoos by Betsey Johnson. Done in the same vein as the Chanel Les Trompe L'Oeil 'skin art', the BJ tats can be combined to look like jewelry on the skin.
I decided on a green and pink serpent on my forearm. And apart from the occasional Death Eater allusion, no one was too surprised by my recent addition. I choose to believe it's because people assume I'm daring enough to get a tattoo, not that it was so clearly evident a temp.
My foray into the temporary got me thinking about real body art. I used to have an obsession with tattoos and would plan which one I would get the moment I turned eighteen. I never wanted a monstrously big one - always just a tiny thing that I could appreciate but not advertise to the world. In seventh grade, I wanted a star of my wrist (très Gisele). At fifteen, I wanted a small word or French phrase. By seventeen, I was settled on the idea of getting a small swallow on either my wrist or side of my forearm.
When I actually turned eighteen, I reneighed on my promise. Suddenly, getting a tattoo was something I desperately wanted to avoid. When friends would ask what I thought of tattoos, I would always dismiss them - saying that I would never be able to become First Lady if I had a tat.
But the truth of the matter is a little different. While even the baddest bad gals of retro Hollywood never got tattoos (you'd never see Lana Turner with a tramp stamp), the stigma behind tattoos has definitely changed in the last few decades. Now it's hip - even commonplace - for people to have tattoos. What made me reconsider getting inked was the very nature of tattoos themselves - they are forever. I hated the permanency of it; I'm probably the worst type of person to even consider getting a tattoo - I hate change of any sort, but I'm also extremely noncommittal. Getting inked, even with something smaller than a dime, seemed too revolutionary for me.
I recently read an interview with Olivia Kim, one of the head gals of Opening Ceremony, on Into the Gloss. In addition to her enviable job and lustworthy wardrobe, she had a slew of really cool tattoos. Little birds, hearts, bows, boats, sea ships, and cupcakes adorn her hands. I really loved her quote about tattoos: "I love the idea that it really marks where you are in your life at that time. I think people are scared of that permanence but I feel like, it's ok, you can always move on, you can cover it, you can take it off if you don't like it. I remember everything about each one." I credit Kim with my recent (i.e. last night when I couldn't fall asleep and this afternoon when my friend and I were bored and start googling 'tiny tattoos') change in feelings towards tattoos. The permanency may very well be an attractive aspect, and I just misunderstood. Tattoos are like souvenirs of yourself from a particular moment in time.
Maybe I will reconsider my personal stance on the tattoo. Though, with my parents possibly reading this, maybe I won't.