I am now 50 years old, and have thought of getting a Holocaust number tattooed on my forearm since about age 20.
I never considered most of the issues mentioned in the article above, and similar articles I have read today.
My thoughts, which I thought were simple:
The world, including the humans, can be a cruel and horrifying. We must not forget that. Remembering it can help us to prevent it. Many people seem to espouse the behavioral practice of "think positive, be positive, create only positivity", and "if you have negativity, you have created it with your thoughts". I believe in positive thinking, but certainly not out of ignorance or in a vacuum. No matter how "good" things are, bad things can happen suddenly.
And bad things like the Holocaust happened, but not suddenly! The event was planned and the plan was executed. If more people had thought of life's horrors, and were committed to avoiding them, the events would have unfolded differently. I don't know how different, but different.
Having read a few articles today, I wonder if my thoughts are more selfish or narcissistic than I had realized. Do I just want attention, to make people's jaws drop? Do I want to be thought of as "dark"?
I don't think so. I do think of myself as keenly aware of cruelty and suffering. And I think it's a powerful reminder. I think a tattoo of this sort states a life truth that is unchanging. My biggest doubts right now--I thought of this idea from the perspective of: "if I were to get a tattoo, what would it be?" Originally I had no interest in a tattoo. I feared that whatever permanent mark I selected "now" would not be equally relevant to me throughout my life. Now, 30 years later, I believe the message of a Holocaust number will be equally relevant to me for all my years.
Yet, is it about me being special? And is that OK? I've decided it is OK, and it's not relevant whether it's about me being special. The Holocaust must never be forgotten. A tattoo is a method to keep it present.
And, as a Jew and a gay man, I would have been killed twice. It's worth reminding anyone that cruelty is what it is, regardless of the victims of the cruelty.
I am now 50 years old, and have thought of getting a Holocaust number tattooed on my forearm since about age 20.
I never considered most of the issues mentioned in the article above, and similar articles I have read today.
My thoughts, which I thought were simple:
The world, including the humans, can be a cruel and horrifying. We must not forget that. Remembering it can help us to prevent it. Many people seem to espouse the behavioral practice of "think positive, be positive, create only positivity", and "if you have negativity, you have created it with your thoughts". I believe in positive thinking, but certainly not out of ignorance or in a vacuum. No matter how "good" things are, bad things can happen suddenly.
And bad things like the Holocaust happened, but not suddenly! The event was planned and the plan was executed. If more people had thought of life's horrors, and were committed to avoiding them, the events would have unfolded differently. I don't know how different, but different.
Having read a few articles today, I wonder if my thoughts are more selfish or narcissistic than I had realized. Do I just want attention, to make people's jaws drop? Do I want to be thought of as "dark"?
I don't think so. I do think of myself as keenly aware of cruelty and suffering. And I think it's a powerful reminder. I think a tattoo of this sort states a life truth that is unchanging. My biggest doubts right now--I thought of this idea from the perspective of: "if I were to get a tattoo, what would it be?" Originally I had no interest in a tattoo. I feared that whatever permanent mark I selected "now" would not be equally relevant to me throughout my life. Now, 30 years later, I believe the message of a Holocaust number will be equally relevant to me for all my years.
Yet, is it about me being special? And is that OK? I've decided it is OK, and it's not relevant whether it's about me being special. The Holocaust must never be forgotten. A tattoo is a method to keep it present.
And, as a Jew and a gay man, I would have been killed twice. It's worth reminding anyone that cruelty is what it is, regardless of the victims of the cruelty.
I welcome considerate feedback.