Probably the riskiest adventure from this past summer: getting a tattoo.

I’ve never been against them, I’ve just been too indecisive to ever follow through with it – until now. My loving father and I did it together. He, of course, went first. And the only thing I’ll mention about the pain: It was comparable to someone carving into your skin with an open staple. Get the picture?

If not, here’s a hint:

So, after all these weeks and months contemplating, what did I choose?

Love.

One word.

When most people see it, they mention something about how tiny and dainty it is. People don’t ask me why I chose it. Maybe because it seems like a cliche tattoo, or maybe it’s just obvious. “Oh, love, right.” 
Only two people have ever asked why, one of which was in a business setting at work. Minutes prior to asking, he mentioned that if I were looking for a job at his company, I wouldn’t get hired for the nearly one inch tat on my wrist. Still he wondered enough to question my motives. Luckily, I have thought about it for so long that I was ready with my answer.

And this is what I said:

There’s a time when you begin to realize love is powerful.
Love changes relationships. Love changes friendships. Love changes situations.
And this love is so incredibly unknown, it’s usually accompanied with fear.

But…when you finally give into that fear, love’s scariness soon becomes adventure. Love’s awkwardness becomes comfort.
Love is extremely underrated. Call me naive or inexperienced, but I believe that once we truly recognize love’s power, it can take us places.

I think once we relinquish love from being understood, those strong feelings actually become real. If we give more credit to this electric power that pulls us in, we could make actions not out of routine or what society tells us, but actions out of love.
There’s a time when we realize loves power and strength. There’s a time we come to see that love can change the world.

And when that time comes – where can’t love take us?