A third related that the memorial tattoos that she and her family members got to remember their deceased loved one ‘were the start of our grief process or the acknowledgement of our grief process’. Another shared that her tattoo is ‘a good way to tell a story’ about her loss – a key element in making meaning about a loss. One participant described her memorial tattoo as ‘an external scar representing an internal scar’. These memorial tattoos were visual and tangible expressions of the process by which individuals attempt to make sense of their loss. When we analysed the interviews, we detected a core theme of what we call embodied meaning-making. These individuals had sought memorial tattoos in response to the deaths of friends, siblings, fathers, a father-in-law, grandparents, a godparent, an uncle, and pets. We interviewed 22 people (21 women and one man) who ranged in age from 18 to 49 years old. Intrigued by the prevalence of memorial tattoos and what they might show us about the contemporary grief experience, we set out to explore their role as an active response to loss. As the author of a 2009 paper on grief and tattooing explained: Tattooing one’s grief can be an act of resistance to the notion that grief can or should be cured … The act of tattooing suggests that grief is permanent and that it is life-long, visible, and always present. These tattoos can also challenge the tendency to pathologise grief. Memorial tattoos have many potential functions: they might help to start conversations about a loss signify changes in one’s identity as a result of loss provide a permanent representation of love for someone who has died facilitate adjustment to the loss and help someone to maintain their bond with the deceased. One of the key reported motivations for tattooing is the expression of a personal narrative, and memorial tattoos specifically have become a prevalent way for people to remember their loved ones and mark the grief experience in all of its manifestations. These perspectives on grief have supported the exploration of a wide range of responses to loss, including a visual form of personal memorialisation that we and other researchers have recently examined: memorial tattoos. The search for meaning after the death of a loved one is often not an easy or passive endeavour, but an active process that can take many forms. Conversely, the risk of experiencing complicated grief, which involves a persistent and pervasive grief response, appears to be higher in the absence of meaning-making. Research suggests that a greater sense of meaning after a loss corresponds with less reported distress. There is also growing evidence that meaning-making – defined as a process of considering what an event, such as the death of a loved one, could signify or how to interpret it – is an important factor in the experience of grief. Contemporary theories of grief acknowledge this complexity and variation, such as in the ongoing relationships or continuing bonds that bereaved people have with deceased loved ones. Grief is a complex response to loss that has many dimensions. I knew that I had to have this poem on me so I could carry it with me … The day that on my leg, I felt so light and so relieved … I have a little piece of him always with me, no matter how often my heart breaks. More intimate and permanent than other reminders, tattoos offer an embodied form of meaning-making in the wake of loss Every time I read that poem, my heart would ache for my father.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |