In much the same way one feels safer and more comforted beneath a
sheet, especially in the night and early morning hours, we often seek
refuge in what feels good but offers no actual safety, whatsoever.
Attempting to conceal our weaknesses beneath what makes us feel better
about them, we pile on false constructs: material collections, practiced
ways of talking, even ways we teach ourselves to stand in public. And so,
over time, we come to believe that we are not truly exposed.
This is an illusory comfort, though, because just as the sheet’s wetness
makes everything beneath it visible, life has a way of rolling out curveballs,
turns of event that just bring everything to the surface that we thought was
safely hidden. In fact, to many around us, it doesn’t even take an event for
us to be seen in plain daylight for who we really are. We are walking around
naked and exposed all the time.
Similarly, the models’ tattoos have been careful selections, intended to
make statements and create adornment, but I see them as a sort of scar.
The ink is placed carefully to recreate an artistic choice, which then yields a
permanent image. In much the same way, we choose who we will be every
day of our lives and, thus create our own scars, as well, making marks as
we go. So, no matter how we begin and what hands we are dealt at birth,
our choices make us permanently visible to others, regardless of what
shoes we wear while making them. Sometimes, our choices create artistry
that inspires, touches, is moving to those around us; other times we may
even be abhorrent. Yet, the sheer fact that we can be born and engage in
this process of living and choosing is ultimately a thing of beauty,
regardless of how hard we try to hide it.
