Tattoos are more than art, more than meaning, more than fashion, and more than a statement about who we are.

I believe they are a transcendental spiritual experience. And at times, a rite of passage.

A beautiful metaphor for life.

The more you resist and get tense when pain is present, the more pain you will feel.

The easiest, least painful way is through surrender. Pain is mandatory, suffering is optional.

What a beautiful environment to practice! to grow mental calluses! to toughen up our minds!

When adversity hits, and painful experiences show up (and they will) we can always connect back to our capacity to sit through the pain. Our capacity to not judge it, but give in to it, to choose it, embrace it, befriend it.

For after all the pain has passed, there is only beauty left behind:

A masterpiece. A statement. An expression. Forever imprinted in who we now are.

Just as in life itself, once we make peace with the pain we feel, there is a lot of beauty on the other side.

In love, in relationships, at work, in family, we will experience pain at some point or another. Yet it is our choice to complain about it, or to find the opportunity within it.

An opportunity for growth, passion, faith, Joy, Acceptance and Potential.

So today let’s choose surrender.

To pain. To beauty.

Let’s choose to let go of suffering, and to embrace the opportunity for growth.

Let’s remember that every tattoo is a reminder of pain turned into art, into a reminder of who we are and who we choose to be, a beautiful opportunity to look forward.

For time will pass, and wounds will heal, and the choice to make the most out of them is always in our hands.

Cheers!

-Nico