“This is how I mark myself. This is how I take my body back.” Unlike the suffering that the rest of the world poses on your body, she says, “You have chosen this suffering, and at the end of it, your body will be different. Maybe your body will feel more like yours.” This is how I feel about my tattoos, that I only started getting in my early 40s. It’s a way for me to claim my body by decorating it in the way that I choose.