Living Canvass

Hello! I’m an addict named Trisha! That’s how I have been introducing myself for 17 years now. Living in the self-centeredness of active addiction nearly ended me. Today I am blessed to be living clean & free from all kind & mood altering substances!

I had a few tattoos before getting clean, a couple of butterflies & my zodiac symbol. My first tattoo clean was a flower/NA service symbol/rose compass combo kinda piece, artwork from WCNA 31 in Honolulu, HI. The trip was a two year anniversary gift from my dad! He has from March 1 to July 25 more time than me; both got clean in 03! My next was a true rose compass with the service symbol in the center! My favorite color purple so when I’m feeling down & hanging my head my eyes catch my fav color & I see my compass & it helps remind me that my god is all encompassing in every direction & aspect of my life!

I have a big lion head tattoo on my back! I’m a Leo but also love how it represents strength & loyalty. Majestic & fierce & fearless!!

My 7 year anniversary gift to myself I got a big Phoenix covering most of my right arm. Like a 3/4 sleeve. I had it done not in traditional reds/yellows/oranges but in purple/blue/green/pink & such. I don’t follow trendy masses & fall in line with other cookie-cutter fads & my ink helps represent that. My Phoenix is an amazing symbol of a new life reborn out of the ashes of the old! This lowly addict living a new way of life! I also had this one done on my 7th anniversary because 7 is a very prominent number in my life.

I have a huge monarch butterfly from my left shoulder coming halfway across my chest. I don’t believe there is anything else that represents change more poetically than a butterfly. The only thing constant in life is change & the only inevitable is death. Helps to remind me that I am never stuck... how I’m feeling, where I’m at, etc.. That something ugly can turn into true beauty💜

I have never been able to wear watches, something about me kills the mechanisms. My wonderful, amazing, smart, handsome & all around golden hearted son was born on April 7th, 2001. I was told @ 16 it would be right @ impossible to conceive naturally. Imagine my surprise when I realized I was indeed going to have a baby (Trojan failed to do its job, lol) My bottom was 2 weeks abstinent holding a loaded gun to my head, squeezing on the trigger when I had this vision of my 2 year old coming home to witness the carnage I was about to create. I am his only parent & I had reached a level in my life where I legit thought he would be better off if I wasn’t around. I had no clue how to live, how to be happy. I got clean initially for my son, he deserved better than the piece of shit I was. NA most definitely helped me get some happy going in my life, but it all started with my heart... my son Hunter David. I’ve been telling him he’s my heart forever! I got a watch set to the time he was born (9:35) on the inside of my left wrist. The hands ironically (or not) for a 7 when set to that time! The band is my sons actual heartbeat, his sinus rhythm!

I’m originally from Kansas so naturally the wizard of oz is a big part of life. Couple years ago I got a yellow brick road from my elbow to wrist along my left forearm. Starts narrow & widens out near my wrist. There are 12 footprints staggered along the path representing the 12 steps of recovery & my higher power carrying me when I couldn’t even lift my head! I also had a line from the We Do Recover chapter from the basic text added... When at the end of the road... there is more to the sentence but I left it with 3 dots to help represent my story isn’t over, my journey continues! It also looks like a tornado when I have my hands up @ rock concerts😉🤘

My most recent ink is only a couple of months old now. I love who I am as a person today, worked really hard to become her! But have always had a negative relationship with my physical self. Been praying for years for self acceptance, that I could love my stretch marks & cellulite cause they very clearly were not going anywhere. I had 5 little butterflies starting on my left index finger over my hand to the last next to my rose compass in different stages of flight. I am free today, bound by no negatives anymore. All the prayers & work, I don’t know, something clicked! I’m not stuck sitting wishing I was pretty, I now proudly spread my wings & let others see the colors that make me me!!

Each & every tattoo on my body is an outward expression of my inner personality. Each piece has significant meaning to me, helps to tell my story!

Love my living canvass!