I am enough.

Tattoo by Rune Winter in Shelton, CT November 2021, February 2022, May 2022, & July 2022

My chest and I have been through a lot. When I was in my early 20’s I was emotionally manipulated into tattoos on my breast. A story I’m not willing to share yet. I then went through laser and surgical removal of those tattoos (though none of them worked fully) and top surgery, yet they still remained.

Now I have no nipples and a very small chest which means I can finally get these tattoos covered up and create a chest that feels beautiful and magical and congruent to me and my identity.

It’s a joy to be in a place where I feel like my body is congruent to how I see myself in terms of my gender expression and to feel in a solid place in my recovery, in my life, with my partner and in my career. This tattoo has become so much more than I could have every imagined.

Rune and I bonded over many things that make us truly magical individuals who bonded instantly. It made sense to have her do this tattoo at one of the only shops I can imagine being topless in and feeling safe and cared for. Rune custom created this whole tattoo for me including a custom sigil that has such deep meaning.

We did a sitting in November and then in February and I felt the real magic that is queer joy, trans joy, gender affirmation, gender euphoria and all the magic that tattooing has personally brought me and my own healing, recovery and becoming.

In May and now July the piece became essentially finished (minus a few touch ups) just in time for my 1 year top surgery anniversary. It feels unreal to imagine that I have hated this chest for so long and despised the trauma it held and now, it is unrecognizably mine in a way I only dreamed of. Rune gave me a gift that is invaluable and incomparable and I am so glad this is the chest I get to see for the rest of my life.