Sea to Summit

I had been thinking about a version of this tattoo for a while, around the theme of "climbing your mountain". Everyone has a mountain they need to climb - some point of adversity, some source of anxiety, some fear to conquer. I had also been literally afraid of heights for most of my life so it held special meaning for me. When you climb your mountain, you have this new viewpoint where you can take in the world in a different way. I was also obsessed with Hokusai's Great Wave, a beautiful and monstrous wave in classic Edo woodblock print. I've loved Japanese culture, art and the city of Tokyo is my favorite place in the world. Waves have their own meaning to me - I've always been afraid of the water and awed by it. And when you conquer your wave, you can ride it to new places and perspectives.So it was in a creative moment that I decided to combine the two into one art piece, from sea to summit. My two favorite natural features, my two biggest fears, in balance. All my tattoos are symbols or glyphs and the yin and yang became the natural symbol for this one. But it's a diamond rather than a circle, one way to make it my own.And this is where @mjtattoonyc came in to make this a reality. The supremely impressive tattoo artist took my sketches and made them a much more impressive piece of art. The mountains literally flow into the waves and the waves become their own mountains. It's one of a kind in a way I love and it's another reminder of everything I've faced so far, what there still is to approach and what it's like to be on the other side having learned from experience.