“People ask me, ‘Why did you get that phrase tattooed on you—”the terrifying”—who does that?’ At first, I really didn’t know how to answer and so I started thinking about it. When I selected my three top choices, I was hoping I wouldn’t get the phrase I got, ‘the terrifying.’ So when I saw the phrase I got, I dreaded it. I was hoping that I could put it somewhere I could easily hide it, so that no one would ever have to see it. Then I picked up my design. After thinking about how the artists constructed the stars as a question mark, I realized that ‘the terrifying’ isn’t a statement for me; it’s a question. I have to question what is terrifying. I have thought about it over and over and over the last few months, and I have finally found what is terrifying to me. Going through a divorce and getting away from someone who treated my heart poorly is terrifying. Learning how to find the person I once was is terrifying. Finding someone who treats me the way I am supposed to be treated and having him give me his whole heart is terrifying. Not knowing how to react towards someone who loves me the way a person is supposed to be loved is terrifying. Now when I tell people why I got my tattoo, I go into the Boulder Tattoo Project story. But inside I really know that the phrase chose me and that I didn’t choose the phrase.”
Jessica Crisp’s “the terrifying”
The Boulder Tattoo Project 