Tattoos and Green Smoothie-of-Life

There are so many varied opinions regarding tattoos, what is yours?

Myself, I cannot get enough and love them all. IT IS ART! I love all art styles because they are a personal form of expression. Art is not meant to fit a specific criteria, it is as unique as the artist creating it. Tattoo artists are some of the most talented artists I have ever seen. Not only are they creating beautiful art, they have the added pressure of permanently altering another human's skin. The individual sitting in the chair has hired the artist to use their skin as a canvas.

Photography I did for my friend Kim, I plan to do a lot more tattoo photography :)

My feelings on tattoos: Your body is a canvas, when you die you leave it all behind, but how you wear it throughout you life should portray your inner self. Therefore, if you are a more conservative person, and do not understand tattoo art, then a tattoo would not be suiting. On the other hand, there is the tattoo-canvas that cannot seem to get enough ink. They appreciate that their tattoos with be with them for as long as their lungs breathe. Then, there is everyone else who falls somewhere within these two degrees.

On a scale system from 1-100, 1 being the very conservative, blank-canvas-type, and 100 being the not-one-inch-of-uncovered-skin-left-type, I would put myself near the 40s. Not saying I want 40% of my skin tattooed, but a 40 because I absolutely love tattoos, cannot wait to get my sixth one done soon (yes, that's right I have five), but also, I am fairly choosey about what I will get inked. I am partial to black ink, not to say I am against color on other people, just not on me for the time being. I also want my tattoo to be meaningful to me. I am not particularly interested in making sure that others interpret it correctly, or even that they will like it. It is far too hard to please everyone, and I really do not care. Getting a tattoo is something you do for yourself, and you do it because you made the choice and wanted to.

 

It is your body, do whatever you want with it! If tattoos make you happy (which they do for me), then why the heck not? To this day, I have never regretting a single one, and let me tell you, I have rarely thought for too long about what I was getting. If I really want it at a particular moment, I know I will really want in two months later, and still two years later. I am not about waiting around and not doing something just in case, in the future, I might change my mind.

Life everyday like it is your last, right? Who knows if there will be a tomorrow. Do what you want to do, live in the moment. Every tattoo I have reminds me of that decisive moment, the moment I decided on that tattoo. It reminds me where I was in my life (literally and figuratively), what I was thinking, what I believed in, and how I felt. When I look at one of my tattoos all of those memories come rushing back. Just as the ink on my body, those memories are permanent.

When I am in an anxious moment, or caught up in a snowball of worry and catch a glimpse of the script on my shoulder blade all of that anxiety goes away. That is my confirmation I will never regret getting any of my tattoos. They are my constant reminders of who I am, what I believe in, and my personal directions back to reality and back to happiness :)

What are your thoughts on tattoos? What are some ideas that you have been thinking about? Or what are some really amazing tattoos you have seen?

I may as well share mine... I am proud of them, so feel free to comment! You are 100% entitled to your own opinion, I am just the canvas afterall.

From oldest to newest:

I got these two palm trees when I was 16 years old.

"Be Loved"
Inspired by: Bob Marley, embraced by: me!

Italian idiom: "contro corrente"

Translates to: "Against the Current"

ALSO...

On my shoulder blade:

"Bain Ceol as an Saol"

Gaelic Idiom meaning: Reap Music from Life

"Live life to its fullest, without regret"

Behind my ear (photo to come):

Celtic Trinity Knot

Added text to my Be Loved tattoo, "...gaze in thine own heart, the holy tree is growing there." - W.B. Yeats (My favorite poem).

Left Upper Arm

My little faerie :)

I got the 4th and 5th last when I was in Ireland. I did not buy a lot of souvenirs while I was away, so I thought, this would be the perfect souvenir. I also didn't want to weigh down my luggage or have to claim anything :)

I researched various tattoo parlours in Europe and Ireland, and decided on Zulu Tattoo, not only are they recognized to have the same safety procedures as Canadian tattoo standards, but they also had a pile of celebrities have ink done there! Thought that was pretty cool! They are my favorite so far, for the aesthetic appeal, but as well for the memories they hold.

And now a RECIPE! Because I have a million and want to share all of them, I may as well get them out there with every post :)

My "smoothie-of-life" is something I created when I was first dealing with all of my food intolerances, and was having a hard time finding a breakfast that was nutritious, energizing, filling and on top of all of that, delicious. With eggs, dairy and gluten out of the picture, finding a well balanced way to start my day was difficult. I began throwing random ingredients into my blender that I already knew were full of vitamins and nutrients, from vegetarian protein powder, to spinach, to carrots, to flax seeds, to blueberries and every else in between. I kept trying out different combinations, adding ingredients to change the texture, consistency and flavor.

I felt like I was a mad scientist in my kitchen, and others would probably agree as they saw the concoction I created. I have never had so many funny looks with regards to what I was eating, but I did not care because they made me feel good, gave me energy and the majority of them tasted fantastic to me!

I will post all my successful ones, but first, the basic "go-to" Smoothie-of-Life:

It resembles monster juice, but tastes amazing I promise :)

Smoothie-of-Life

Ingredients:

1 scoop vanilla protein powder of choice (I use Genuine Health's Vegan Proteins+)
1 tsp powdered spirulina
1 Tbsp chia seeds (or ground flax seed)
1/4 ripe avocado
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 pinch of nutmeg
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
1-2 Tbsp bee pollen granules

Place ingredients in blender (I use a Magic Bullet), in the order they are listed. Make sure you put the almond milk in last and save the bee pollen to top the blended drink.

Blend until smooth and top with bee pollen.

If smoothie is too thick, simply add some water or more almond milk and blend again for another 20-30 seconds.

Get energized, and nourished for your day ahead :)

Enjoy

-Em