Hello Friends!

The message behind this tattoo has been on my heart to share so I thought post it here!

Tattoos are an amazing form of self expression. They are a permanent reminder of important aspects of your life, memorials to those that are lost, encouragement when you feel down, and art to make you smile. I do not take tattoo decisions lightly and when planning this one I put a lot of thought into it. I thought I'd share this amazing artwork with everyone so that you can see a piece of my heart. There is so much meaning behind this!

Semi colon:
- the semicolon project is a nationwide initiative that is raising awareness about suicide and mental health problems. This aspect of the tattoo represents all of my struggles with suicidal ideation and attempts and my mental health as a whole. It also represents my future and how I strive to improve my mental health every day and the mental health of those around me.
Check out the organization at https://www.projectsemicolon.com

Mountain:
- Mountains are my happy place, I love nothing more than to go on a hike and experience God's wonderful nature. I am the happiest and healthiest when I am hiking and being in nature. The mountain range represents my love for the outdoors.
- one of my favorite authors is Dr. Suess. In one of his most famous books he says "your mountain is waiting so get on your way!" This quote encourages me every day to keep pushing on and climbing this mountain we call life.
- Hillsong United is one of my favorite bands. They have so many wonderful songs! One of their older but most popular songs is Mighty to Save. In it the chorus says "my savior, he can move the mountains, he is mighty to save, forever, author of salvation, he rose and conquered the grave, Jesus conquered the grave." This song explains the gospel so clearly and with such wonderful imagery; any time I get discouraged I can listen to it and be reminded of the power of my God to move mountains for me cause he loves me.

River:
-I wanted to stay with the outdoor theme through this whole piece so I decided to make the bottom a river scene. What inspired the tranquility of this is my favorite movies! Pocahontas is one of my favorite Disney princesses so I love when she sings "What I love most about rivers is, you never step in the same river twice, the water's always changing always flowing, but people, I guess, cant live like that, we all must pay a price. To be safe we lose our chance of ever knowing whats around the river bend."
- I also grew up in a somewhat small town in Alabama that has streams running all through it. I used to spend my weekends playing in streams, catching crawfish, and pretending to be a mermaid. The simple river in the woods reminds me of my childhood.

Moon:
- One of my favorite books growing up was "Goodnight Moon" my mom used to read it to me every night so I thought I'd get a reminder of that joy!
- I have always been obsessed with the moon and the stars so I wanted the mountain scene to be at night.

2 stars (that are partially covered by my hair in this picture):
- I felt like incorporating one more Disney aspect to this tattoo so I thought I'd bring in Peter Pan, one of my heroes!
- "But Peter, How do we get to Neverland?" -Wendy Darling
"Second star to the right and straight on till morning!" - Peter Pan

I hope someone else can get as much joy out of this tattoo as I do!
Love, Ruthie