TATTOO DESIGN

[mandy hall]

Hi i am going to have a tattoo to raise money for the encephlitis society here in the uk, just wondered if anyone had any idea's elizabeth has kindly said she will draw and design it, i want it to represent how we have all survived e and learning to live again with the new you, for me i want it as a reminder that i do have courage and strength , determination, AND IM STILL ALIVE, and im learning to live with the new me .
So if anyone has any idea's please let me know ?
thankyou mandy

[Hope]

I'm intrested, I just may get another tat!

[Elizabeth]

Daniel,
I'm working on a design.....I do want it symbolize much of what having to deal with encephalitis entails. Stephen is considering getting the tattoo too. I think explaining the symbolism would be helpful in the recovery/healing process..But we'll see what each of you think once the design is completed.
I'm always amazed at the great ideas you have....You are such an encouragement.

[Daniel]

What about a picture of a traffic light, where 'red' has the word 'encephalitis' written on it, 'yellow' has the word 'recovering' written on it and 'green' just has a question mark : it's abstract, I realize, but I enjoy thinking of stuff like this so I figured I'll just plonk it online and see if it's good or not.

[Daniel]

Another idea I had was to get an hourglass tattoo with sand leaking out the bottom spelling out 'encephalitis awareness', or something similar. The only issue I could see with this idea is that it might be misinterrpretted as meaning you're about to die or something, when I imply in the suggestion that it'd mean more about losing time through recovery instead.
I thought on this point and realized that if people are forced into debating the meaning of such a tattoo, not with criticizm but instead a desire for understanding, then that'd mean your message would get out there as you're forced to explain.

[Daniel]

I also, now I remember, recall meeting a lady in the US during 2007 on the other encephalitis support site who held a formal funeral at a beach for her former self, claiming it to be the point where she felt her former self died and she came to terms with being different from that point.

Personally, I don't believe in throwing away high hopes and instead would rather concentrate upon how they can be emotive and motivational to making a goal, either lofty or realistic, seem closer to being realized.

This is why I suggested the somewhat macabre idea of the gravestone, as it's not so much an idea indicating your own mortality or when perhaps you feel as though you've lost your hope in improving further, and I suppose it's not even really specifically aimed at the point where you feel back to full health either : what it is, to me at least, is a recognition that the person you once were has probably altered in terms of your outlook on life and the date at the end could simply indicate the point where you feel as though you're ready to move on again in whatever capacity possible, while not in the mindset of considering yourself still unwell, but perhaps commemorating the point where you overcame that notion instead :

BBLE : 2005 - 2008, would be mine, but, while I no longer think of myself as being unwell, I do see myself as being a work in constant progress, so by default this would be inappropriate and I intend to have the latter date as the formal end of this experience, probably 2005-2010, but I'm a hopeless optimist.

Another idea I had was a faded picture of a brain with a large capital 'V' over the top of it with '(a date) : VE day' (vicotry over encephalitis' - again, I don't think you need to be 100% well to claim victory, just feeling mentally and emotionally over the illness : I'm not, and *hate* this illness still intensely, but it's a concept that seems apparent to me.

[Daniel]

Hi Mandy. I'm just brainstorming here as I write, but I think this is an awesome idea and one which has crossed my mind also over recovery :
* I first thought of getting a gravestone drawn on my shoulder reading :
BBLE (Bickerstaffs Brainstem and Limbic encephalitis abbreviation)
2005 - 200? (? = the year I feel over it)

Obviously, this one *is* possible, but it's *not* guaranteed, so it's on the backburner..................for the time being

* A picture of a brain growing mould and the letter E kind of shadowed in over it
* A lower case letter e with an eye in the hole-part and evil, grinning teeth in the arm part
* A picture of your own face with the letter e on your forhead as half your picture appears tired and/or confused, while the other is normal

.....these are only my initial ideas, I'm sure I'll come up with others : be sure to post a pic of what you get done when you do it, and also if you wouldn't mind (because I'm a wuss) - let me know how it felt to get done also.