Dragonfly

Dragonflies have been a personal totem of mine since childhood. There was a field toward the back of our playground in elementary school that everyone would play in. Littered with hundreds of dragonflies, the relentless Florida sun would dance across them sparkling in the afternoon. Catching them in little jars that I would hide in my lunchbox was the highlight of my day. They almost never made it home alive, but that didn’t matter. My Dad had given me a microscope that I would use to inspect their lacey wings and reflective bodies with. I read all about them and loved that the wings of a dragonfly move in a figure eight motion instead of up/down like most winged creatures. As I grew up I continued to see dragonflies around me all the time. Often times one would perch on the antennae of my car or I’d find one trapped in my room. They seem to always be around me. I feel a sort of protection when I noticed a dragonfly near me, and they seem to show up when I’m having a difficult time with life. Having this connection with the little monsters in addition to their seemingly infinite existence inspired me to draw this tattoo and have it inked into me. This was my first tattoo and still, after eight years, my favorite.