Freedom to Express yourself

A lot has changed over the past few decades in terms of the freedom we have when it comes to expressing our individuality in the way we dress and decided to present ourselves to society. I'm 32 and even when I was younger things like excess piercings and tattoos in the eyes of my parents generation was not something educated family people delved in but rather it had connotations with some less desirable groups of society. I however always loved the Bohemia side of things (think Woodstock, travelling the Silk Road etc) and I had a lot of persuading to do to just get my ears pierced at 15, to be honest it was more a peer pressure decision on my part and even though my parents eventually said yes when I actually did it they were not particularly happy.

Moving on from that ever since I was about 16 I wanted my nose pierced, I loved that is was something steeped in Indian culture and I had dreams of backpacking through Goa or hitting the road as a music journalist in the vain of Almost Famous (if you have not see this feel good feel - do). My parents of course always said no, it was from a good place though, I think they didn't want me having issues getting jobs or having people jump to conclusions on my appearance, which may seem irrelevant today but 20 years ago there was certainly less people expressing themselves this way. I waited patiently until I was 23 and living and working in Amsterdam, I felt I was old enough at this point to know who I was and my parents trusted my judgement, waiting was the right decision as it was never a problem in their eyes, I had earned it by this point. Today sees everyone from all walks of life express themselves in which ever way they want and personally I think its great as it makes the world a more colourful and diverse place than ever before and that can never be a bad thing.

I went on to have a few more things as one does and I don't regret any of them as it's ones right to express themselves in a way that makes you happy. When I was living and working on the West Coast of Scotland I tried to stretch my ears a little (nothing too extreme) using wooden spiral tapers, it was a fairly easy and gradual process and I did get quite far although I had irritation in one that just wouldn't subside so I decided to not push it any further although if your interested in getting flesh plugs then the flesh tunnel shop offer some great advice. With so much great advice free available online at the moment I probably would of been able to do this better, slower and without issues. Again I found the history of stretch ears really fascinating - did you know that in 1991 a 5000yr old mummy was found frozen in a Glacier and had widened earlobes and many indigenous tribes and nations still practices this today

A few of Johns leg tattoos on show

The same can be said in many ways for John, he always wanted a variety of tattoos, original pieces of artwork but only ended up getting his first one at the age of 35. He spends a long time researching  the best in their field rather than just picking a shop by random and has worked with a few tattooists who have come to Cardiff on Guest touring spots. Together we are planning to go to Cardiff Tattoo Convention in July this year which should provide a host of inspiration. John like many has a smart dress attire for work and being self employe it's very important he has a professional appearance but also being in the Barber trade it allows for some flexibility as Barbering and Tattooing are actually very connected and have been for years, even so he doesn't have any he cannot hide easily.

Have you ever had a late interest in doing something a little different such as dying your hair a shocking blue colour and maybe in another way such a sky diving? Or have you ever regret a decision you made in hast while you were younger?

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