The Gallery — Body Parts

Oh blimey.   Well that narrows it down on the Gallery this week then.  There are very few body parts on this blogger’s body that I would consider showing the world.    For many reasons, mostly on the grounds of taste.

So I decided to show you a part of my body that is always on display and that I have talked about before but you might have missed it.   In fact a couple of people recently have asked me about it so I thought I would explain it again.

The above is a photo of a tattoo on my right wrist.  Yep.  Me.  44 and a tattoo.  Not hidden away but right slap bang in the middle of my wrist where everybody can see it.  And I hasten to add that it IS the only tattoo I have.   A friend on Saturday night insisted I must have others.  I don’t.  I can assure you.

I got this tattoo for a very specific reason.

It is the Chinese symbol for Chai.  Which translates as tea and also life.   Since my nickname is T it seemed appropriate.   And also I want a reminder that life is for living.   We lost two friends in the Tsunami in Thailand in 2004 and this is my reminder of them and that you don’t know what is around the corner so you have to live each day to the full because you won’t get it again.

Some other friends said to me on Saturday.   “oh you are so lucky, you are always doing something interesting” as the last time I saw them was the night before my Kirstie Allsop interview.   It occurred to me that this isn’t about luck.  It’s about working damned hard.   Bloggers are often accused of being “blaggers” of only blogging to get free stuff, or asked for tips on how to get free stuff.   I argue it is not free.  Okay I might not have had to pay for that particular thing but I have had to work hard on my blog, grab the opportunities that are presented to me, put myself out a bit, often for free, to live life to the full in order to get the returns that come my way.

That sounds a bit ranty and I don’t mean it to be.  My point is that if you don’t go out and there and find opportunities, send the odd cheeky Tweet,  say yes to the party you don’t really feel like going to and then declare at midnight it’s the best one ever, do the odd blog post for free with a client you really want to work with long term, you won’t live each day to the full.

Life IS for living.   This is not a dress rehearsal and this tattoo is my reminder of that several times a day.    And possibly the body part that defines me more than any other.