It is hard to begin but once the oil is applied to the infinite mechanisms and the wheel begins to roll, finding where you want to go next is no problem at all. Whether you dip your toe in a pool of water or you look into the eyes of your beloved before Operation : Penetration is under way, the beginning is groping in the dark to find the lamp. It was the summer of 1999 and I had just started college. What followed was only a period of 2 days but as I continued to further journey inwards, time almost crawled. Only a year later, I was released from the bonds which allow almost no creativity to flow, also known as "high school", and before I began to try to learn again after I unlearned certain things, I had taken a year break to slow down. Well, I had definitely slowed.
At A Glance Author aperfectfrog Contact aperfectfrog@bme.anon When Two years ago Artist Some guy Studio Skin Quake (now New Breed) Location Indianapolis
I read more, was in meditation more, drew more, loved more and lived more. I could feel a sort of turning point coming. I responded to the moment and current situation with more intelligence rather than a blind, triggered programmed reaction. I had been considering getting a tattoo but that seemed extremely difficult. I know that if I wanted some ink drawing on my body forever, I would want to be the one to design it. I decided to put in on my things-to-do list. Instead, I had seen a picture of some piercings and then it came to me. I immediately focused on this certain piece of jewelry right under the lip and right above the chin. Something inside of me burned. I'm sure it was a mix of insight and burritos. I looked at the name of the piercing. It was called a "labret". Well, I certainly had no idea on how to pronounce it, but that wouldn't stop my inquiry.
I had contacted a few of my friends to see what they knew about piercings. Well, the popular item at the time seemed to be either a belly button and tongue. Basically it was a hole poked into you, it got sore and swollen, then, voila! metal with your skin. Well, okay then! The people I had kept company with for so long had been losing their appeal and I had dabbled in other areas for friendliness. Things were dying and new things were being reborn and I was going with it.
Peculiar how the transient themes, the subtextual patterns of your life are illuminated by hindsight. In less than a year I had all my friends turn on me or fall away from the lines of communion and communication. It is not necessary to go into details of the exact causes of this ever-growing event, but let us say it was a long overdue wake up call. I was at the back door to my old house and at the front door to the new house. It takes a great deal of courage to walk through that door, not knowing what will occur once your foot is placed on that uncertain territory. Well, if I am the only traveler on my path, then so be it.
First day of classes I had met who is now a good friend of mine and former roommate, Amanda. She had several piercings and one of them included the labret. I asked her about it, the usual questions like did it hurt, maintenance, price, feeling when it happened, etc. After hearing those satisfactory answers, my mind was made up. It was to happen this weekend. I contacted my friend Heather and asked her if she wanted to go with me. She was more than happy to go. There are times in life where all you can do is wait, a concept difficult for people to understand in an age of rapidly growing technology where the motto seems to be "more, faster, better, now like it was yesterday". Well, not I. I had done nothing Friday night or Saturday daytime except just sit and breathe. This was to consecrate the beginning of something new, fresh and virgin. The old was falling away and I was to be born anew, or at least ready for it. More open to things now.
Dressed like I am normally dressed, I was picked up at my house by Heather, her sister and her sister's friend. We then drove to the Skin Quake studio, which is now called New Breed, on Keystone Avenue.
We went inside and asked how much it would be for a labret piercing. I think it was 25$ for the piercing and maybe 35$ for the jewelry I wanted. It was a purple spike. I signed some sort of waiver and we four, including the artist, walked to one of the back rooms. It was getting close now. The artist then drew a dot on my face, the spot where he would pierce my flesh and insert the jewelry. It looked good to me and so with my approval of the ink's location, he asked me to sit on the booth and rinse with some listerine. Tingles all over my body, that feeling of mixed anxiety and adrenaline began to pulsate.
I can't remember exactly what the tool that was used to pierce me looked like but I think it resembled hemostats where the ends were bent inwards at ninety degree angles. He took out the new equipment with his rubber gloves on and asked me to lay down. The pulsating rhythm of my heart began to speed up while everything else seemed to slow down. I closed my eyes as I lay there and he took my lip with his fingers and pulled it out. He told me to take a couple of deep breaths and so I did. It was eternity that touched me, hidden inside that metal device. It was as if I was not in the body the same time I was in it. Words are so futile when it comes to describing any kind of experience, but the effort must be put forth should there be any kind of transference or understanding. I could feel the tip of the device pierce instantly. Whether it was adrenaline or something else that caused me to feel almost no pain, I know not. The device continued to move until the ends met at an a cceptable distance and were then removed from my lower lip. What came next was the pain I hadn't expected. Even if it was only momentary and sharp bursts of singing pain cruising through my nerves, it still hurt like hell. He was putting in the jewelry. It seemed to be a bit tedious seeing as how he had to screw on the spike. When flesh is open, you just don't touch it constantly, but that's the way it is when you get a piercing. It was done. I sat up after spitting a bit of blood and wiping it from myself and looked in the mirror. So there it was. A spike in my face and ever so beautiful. I was enthralled at its presence and shook the artist's hand. He gave me a piece of paper telling me how to care for it over the next few weeks. It mostly consisted of not playing with it and to keeping it clean. I paid the clerk and we all took another moment or so to look at it in the mirror. How wonderous it was and still is.
We left and I was to be in contact with Heather no more. Ah, that's the way it goes. There are no grudges to carry or sorrows to drag. People just lose touch but you are grateful for their time in your life. So it was with everyone else who I was no longer friends with. This piercing is a marker for me, a step I have taken to go alone through that gate and into the garden. The past 2 years have been wonderful to say the least and I still have my labret piercing. Many, many more experiences and years to come with it or without it. This too shall pass.