Project Semicolon

Whenever I see someone with a tattoo I always wonder about the meaning behind the ink. What did that person admire so much that he decided to place it permanently on his body? Or even further, whom did that person love so deeply she had to inscribe a physical image on her body to  share that person with the world?

When referencing tattoos, it seems most camps divide into either passionately for, or passionately against the idea. No matter your stance, you have to respect an ink lovers commitment to longevity. 

And in that vein of respect, I came across an article about Project Semicolon that I connected with and wanted to share with you all. Have you spied these tattoos on anyone yet? 

These small tattoos have started quite a trend. While most are simple and some almost unrecognizable, they gained popularity when the founders of Project Semicolon found a voice on social media and began sharing photos of the sign drawn on different people. As the images began to spread across the internet, so did their message of hope and love for those individuals struggling with depression and suicidal thoughts or tendencies. 

Their metaphor is a simple one. "A semicolon represents a sentence an author could have ended, but chose not to. The sentence is your life, and the author is you." (Tweet that.)

The tattoo, an instant conversation starter, could at any point in time spark a discussion of self-injury, struggles and survival. These small grammatical signs are actually giving a voice to a subject that all too often goes unspoken. For those individuals sporting the semicolon, it acts as a physical manifestation of a struggle they endured- whether battling their own afflictions or watching a loved one decide how he or she would punctuate their own life. 

And that, ladies and gentlemen is a movement I can get behind. The National Institute of Mental Illness reports that nearly 1 in 5 Americans suffers from some type of mental illness. Imagine if we could all help those individuals by talking, sharing, imploring them all to see another volume in the library of life. 

I wish I could've convinced my mother to view her dark times as a  novel, use a semicolon to find time to breathe and understand what happened before, but remember there was another chapter to her story. I wish I could change her punctuation. 

But since I can't change the ending of a story written in ink, I can support those using ink to remind us that all lives are valuable and deserve a sense of permanence. 

For whom will you sport your semicolon?

                           I wear mine (in Sharpie ink) for you, Mom. Your story continues.