As I did with my first tattoo that I got in October last year, I thought I would do another blog post explaining what this one means to me, and why I got it.
If you're a Gilmore Girls fan, then you already know exactly where I'm going with this. I grew up watching the show with my Mum, and I have been rewatching it repeatedly ever since I discovered that it was on Netflix in 2018. It's one of my favourite comfort shows - nothing too dramatic happens, so it's quite a laid back watch, and it's lovely to have on in the background of your day. The show gets a lot of hate because some of the characters are very flawed, but for me personally, I quite like that because I am also flawed, and it's nice to see the characters grow and change, in the same way that the viewers do.
*there will be Gilmore Girls spoilers ahead - I know that the show ended in 2007 but I know not everyone grew up watching it, so if you're watching it now - Season 1 through Season 5 spoilers ahead*
The 'In Omnia Paratus', (which is Latin for 'Ready for Anything') element of the show comes along in Season 5, when they introduce the Yale secret society called the 'Life and Death Brigade', into the show. Rory first learns of the club when she spots a girl in a ballgown exclaim 'In Omnia Paratus' and climb into a black SUV. She then begins researching the phrase, and finds out about the society - although her friend Logan, will tell her nothing about it even though his grandfather was in the club. She's then invited to the 108th grand assembly, where all of the members dress up in 1930s style outfits.
The main event of the evening involves a leap from a seven-story scaffolding with everyone in formal-wear carrying umbrellas. Rory was incredibly reluctant to do this at first, but after some encouragement from Logan, it ends up being a once-in-a-lifetime moment for her.
Disclaimer: getting this tattoo isn't me expressing my burning desire to jump off a building with an umbrella instead of a parachute - or a want to jump off of a building AT ALL.
To me, the phrase is about saying yes to things that scare me, taking chances, and making my life happen instead of letting it happen to me. We've all been through a lot this past year, and for myself personally, that involved quitting my job suddenly and getting a new one in a different field, supporting my fiancé through a life-changing surgery, and financing our wedding entirely by myself, so I really am ready for anything at this point.
So now that I've explained how the umbrella plays a part in the iconic scene, it's easy to understand why most images I could find on Google with this tattoo design included the umbrella - but I didn't.
Below is the reference photo that I showed my tattoo artist, and he did an absolutely incredible job of hand-drawing it exactly how I wanted it, while also replacing the umbrella with the daisy.
Another phrase which I absolutely love from the show is from Season 1, where Lorelai's then boyfriend, tells Lorelai that he wants to marry her, but he expresses this interest during a big fight, which isn't how she imagined being proposed to - and she says 'There should be a thousand yellow daisies, and candles, and a horse, and I don’t know what the horse is doing there unless you’re riding it, which seems a little over-the-top...'. I loved this line so much that I designed a calligraphy print of it for my store as part of my Valentine's Day collection. I also love that Lorelai shows that she knows her worth in this scene, and that she deserved the proposal that she wanted.
Anyway, Max takes what she said to heart, and that's exactly what he sends her the next day - one thousand yellow daisies. Spoiler - Max and Lorelai don't end up together in the end, but it remains one of the most visually romantic scenes in the show, and I think what Lorelai learnt from the rise and fall of her relationship with Max helps her learn so much about herself and about love itself, and I love seeing her grow up after that experience. I inserted a daisy into my tattoo so that it references both scenes, and I found out after planning the tattoo that a daisy is also Stephen's birthflower so it's very cool that there's a little bit of him in the design, too. We get married in 3 weeks, so if I'm 'ready for anything' with anyone, it's with him.
In terms of pain, in comparison to my 5 minute first tattoo, this one took around 20 minutes, but it also didn't personally hurt me that much until the word 'in' because it's very close to the bone near my sternum. (my artist was sat on the left of me, so started with the word 'paratus' and moved inwards that way). My favourite part was the daisy because I could feel when the petals were being drawn, as opposed to the rest of the experience where I could feel the needle making vague line-work shapes, but couldn't place them.
I really love it, it’s so delicate and the cursive handwriting is so pretty!
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