It’s been a month since I took one of the biggest risks of my life: getting a tattoo. I had been planning it for a while. I’d scroll through Pinterest and romanticize the idea of ink permanently ...

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Kenny Jary of the social media account Patriotic Kenny. It has been edited for length and clarity. Back in the day, I always said that I wanted a ...

Getting your first tattoo rarely happens in a perfectly calm, logical moment. More often, it arrives wrapped in adrenaline and emotion, with the sense that something meaningful is about to happen.