This has to be one of my favorite tattoos of the year. I absolutely love the way it turned out, and Natalie's fierceness. She writes:

"I am not a place for cowards" is something I read once and it really resonated within me.
After a rough patch in recent years, I really took to it. Writing about it, I said:

"I am not a place for cowards.
Not for the faint of heart.
I love hard.
I speak loudly.
I debate with tenacity.
I am fully of opinions and convictions.
I do not idly sit by.
I am imperfect,
Fully stocked with question,
And unafraid to ask.
I am passionate and moody.
I stumble over my words
In excitement to speak.
I overshare.
My laughter bounces off the walls.
I'm scarred and tattooed.
I wear my insides on the outside.
I am not a place for cowards."

It's about being fierce and fiery, unapologetic about being yourself. Some people will love that about you and stick by your side for life. Those people are the people I want to be with.

The people who can't handle through-thick-and-thin, all-in relationships are the ones that I'm just fine letting go of.

I am not a place for cowards.

Thank you to Natalie (also a photographer!) and tattoo artist Britta Christiansen (San Celemente, CA).