Well, that’s a strange title.  You might be thinking “She’s lost it!  I am NOT getting a tattoo!’  No, I haven’t ‘lost it’, nor am I getting a tattoo. I had an epiphany!

I was listening to the radio today while driving and heard an interview with the University of Minnesota football coach.  He was talking about how he engages his young team and charges them up.  Besides expecting them all to be good all around citizens, the team has a weekly ‘Tattoo Night’. Now if you are over 50 (or so) you might have the same opinion of tattoos as myself – you don’t really see the point of marking up your body with permanent ink.  I’ve just never understood it.  Here comes the ‘aha moment’:  Coach said that “Tattoo Night” is a great bonding experience where everyone gets to tell the story of their tattoos and what they mean to them. They learn about each other and each player talks about something near and dear to them – and the very core of who they are.

Oh my gosh, tattoos can represent memories or stages of life! They are something deep and meaningful to the individual.  Even if they were done on a dare or wild and crazy night, they can at least tell about the night and the experience of getting the tattoo!  I had never thought of it that way!  Have you seen that commercial of the young girl getting a tattoo of a card that her apparent late mother wrote to her? When it’s done, she says “I think she would have liked it”.  It is beginning to sink in!

What does this have to do with Soroptimist?  A lot, I think!!  1) It makes me think about the younger members that we want to attract.  We don’t always understand what is meaningful to them, but we need to listen and maybe we will begin to see their outlook on the world and what is most important to them.  And they have a lot to contribute and are our future, so we need to understand them and welcome them!  2) If we want to have a stronger member experience in our clubs, then we need to allow time to get to know each other and really try to understand what is meaningful to other members and have empathy for them and create friendships so we can do better work in our communities together.

—Tattoos, who would have thought!!