The Meaning Behind a Tattoo: The Cycle of Life

Why the autumn leaf?

It is a constant reminder through good and bad times - that this is the process of life.

It starts with an acorn.

The acorn falls from the tree.

It's on its own now. It starts its time in dark soil, all alone.

Rains come.

It has to pop open and turn itself essentially inside out in the worst of conditions.

But the sprout that comes from such violence finds its way to the surface to find sunlight, wind, and rain.

Then, for having had this traumatic experience, it grows into a mighty oak.

From the worst moments to the best, it always had the medium in which to obtain its full potential.

It couldn't happen without the time in the dark damp soil and utter destruction and rebuilding of its content.

This tattoo is a constant reminder of life's process.

Why is the oak leaf in autumnal color?

The leaf turns color because the food factories shut down for the year, breaking down the chlorophyll and the carotenoids make their show. The most beauty occurs in the afterglow of greatest growth.

Why is my leaf tumbling?

Because we are caught by the winds of change, time, and our own whims, letting it take us where it will as this is the process of letting go of the safe and going into the unknown.

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And when it lands, it feeds the earth and the all the soon-sprouting acorns going through the throws of their own transformation.