I spent four hours lying in a tattoo studio yesterday. I’m turning 51 in a few weeks, and with each passing year, I notice I’m having more “F-it” moments. Like getting tattoos. Or getting divorced. Or changing jobs. Or speaking my mind. Or taking chances on myself. Or whatever else it is that I thought I was never allowed to do during my life.

This is my second go-around with my tattoo artist, Holly. I first sat with her in 2019, getting what I thought was the biggest tattoo ever. (Just wait till you see the one started yesterday!) Holly truly excels at what she does. 100% artistry. 20 years in the industry does that for a person.

What’s just as cool as her tattoos is the conversation we have during our sessions. Back in 2019, I was just starting out on my inner-child work, healing that generational trauma no one ever tells us about. She’d had her share of life shitting on her too, like we all do. That’s just what life does.

She tattooed a deer on me, which was just so symbolic of what I’d been through. And we talked about some deep stuff, which, as we all know, is what I do now. Go deep or go home. My philosophy is that we have all been so damn conditioned to not talk about the stuff we should be talking about. And when someone does talk about that stuff, it gives others permission to do the same. Holly’s on that same page…so we talk.

As of yesterday, I hadn’t seen her in over three years, and a HELL of a lot has happened, to all of us, in the past three years, right? I caught her up on all the progress I’d made in my life since then; continuing the work on myself, having more work published, hosting retreats with amazing women, taking on a new job, finding love…

And I caught her up on all the shit life dished out to me, too. Because that’s what life does.

And she had a LOT to fill me in on, too. Of course, she had to shut down during the pandemic. It’s a physically intimate setting; you’d be hard-pressed to find a tattoo artist who can ink someone from six feet away. And life handed her some shit, as well. But despite said shit, Holly being Holly, decided to have herself an “F-it” moment and start a cat rescue while the world was shut down. Thanks to Covid, the non-profit “Lucky Cats Rescue” was born in Watertown, MA. They provide “specialized foster homes to cats that need extra care and compassion and match cats with humans that need some love and light in dark times.”

These cats hit the jackpot. Follow Lucky Cats Rescue and see for yourself.

As the pandemic transitioned into our new normal, she started tattooing again, but life was different. Of course it was. This woman had survived as a small business owner when so many hadn’t. This woman had started a successful non-profit. This woman worked on healing the parts of her that needed healing and I’ll be damned if I didn’t feel the empowerment radiating from her as she worked. She shared her dreams with me. And, when you share your dreams out loud, they become a plan.

Holly’s plan is named “The Sanctuary.” It’s a place where people in need of healing, whether it’s trauma survivors, lonely elders or anyone who needs a place to just get away from it all and have a cat sit on their lap, can come and do just that. We hear so much about therapy dogs, or horses or even bunnies, but not so much about cats. And there’s a LOT of cat lovers out there, so why is this not a thing?

Actually, it was already a plan before she told me. She’s raised over 40k already! She needs help grant writing, and probably a million other things, but this woman is doing this, because it needs to be done. And the possibilities at The Sanctuary are endless. My mind was swirling with ideas, and still is. I’ll bet yours is, too…

She shared the story of a senior woman who was missing the love of having cats. She couldn’t make it up to the second floor of the tattoo studio to spend time with Holly’s cat, so she set up a small loveseat in the entryway downstairs for her. She comes to visit and lights up when this cat bounds down the stairs to see her. There’s a video of this on her IG page, and despite my not being a huge cat person, I just about teared up watching this in action. Her joy with this cat was so wholesome. And I swear, the cat enjoyed her equally as much! The woman laughed and smiled and exuded the emotional energy of a child. It was beautiful. She needed the joy of playing with this cat. As a nurse, I can completely understand the loneliness of being old and alone. I see it all the time. And as a trauma survivor and a trauma recovery coach, I also understand the need to have a place to go to where the shit of the world isn’t. We all need moments of joy.

Holly tattooed a phoenix on me yesterday. It symbolizes rising up anew from the ashes. It’s making something beautiful and strong out of something dark. It’s empowerment. It’s beauty. It’s strength. It’s me. It’s Holly. And it’s every dream and plan we have. Like the phoenix, we are unstoppable.

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS Nov. 12, 2022 | (lindaghill.com)