Bodymods and Self Destruction?
by Schnauzevoll
Hey there, Internet!
On a serious thought, does anyone else feel the desire to get a new piercing or bodymod in general when they are in some kind of bad mood? When I look back at the different amounts of piercings I’ve had over the past years (talking about 12 years with my belly button being the first piercing for me and years when I had up to 21 piercings, see recent piercing post) usually the decision for something new was made when I was not feeling too well.
Happy so far I didn’t regret them afterwards, not even the forever-under-construction Pokémon sleeve tattoo, as annoying as this sometimes gets. Of course, been eye-ing particular bodymods for a while before getting them, but talking about that ‘NOW!’ moment in the end, right before heading to the studio. And yes, so far they always somehow did help to feel better.
That did remind me of some topic we were talking about during my apprenticeship, coping strategies, how different people react when something happens in their lives, how they process tragedies, stress in general. Some do think about it, learn from it, include the new knowledge / experience into their lives, into the way they will behave. Some others might try to ignore or to cover their inner struggles. Some break or turn those moments into some kind of (self-) destructing behaviour or thoughts.
Which actually feels strange to me, is this (Bodymods) some kind of self destructing behaviour / self harm that makes us feel better because of the pain? Or do we simply enjoy the changes with our body? On the other hand, there are a lot of different things we could talk about here that might, same as the bodymods feel ok, be ok to some, be bad to others. (Just think about when was the last time you were in a bad mood and because of that mood you went shopping, or did some extra hours of sports or maybe bought some sugary treat you would not have bought if it was a nice day for you? Or how about that new book you just added to your ever growing to-read-pile?)
So, if this really was some kind of coping strategy, would it be a good one or a bad one? I mean, when someone does feel better for a long time, it can’t be a bad thing? But what when you start to regret getting them done? Sure, piercings can easily be removed, will turn into tiny, nearly invisible scars and other bodymods would be more expensive so people think about them a bit more – I hope.
Or is all of the bad mood thing something we make up as excuses, to treaten our addictions? Because a lot of the things, not just the point of feeling better, happiness, that one might enjoy with piercings / tattoos / scars / whatever bodymod could as well be found in every article about addictons and their bakgrounds. The subculture, people with same interest, community, attention. If this is the case I hope, despite how beautiful they are, that noone of us reaches that point when you can only feel good WHEN you get a new one done because that definitely is something bad, no matter what addiction or semi-addiction we have, that would be the point when they are not good anymore.
What do you think? Have a nice evening!
You have a lovely natural body and shouldn’t, to my mind, mutilate it.
See, mutilation to some, art to others 🙂
Ich habe Piercings und Tattoos, weil ich sie schön finde. Ich mag meinen Körper. Ich habe meistens keine Probleme mit mir. Ich finde diese Theorie, dass man sich damit selber verstümmelt ziemlich dumm. Man färbt sich ja auch nicht die Haare weil man sich hasst. Oder lackiert sich die Nägel weil man sich nicht leiden kann.
Na so pauschal war das nun ja auch nicht gemeint, klar ist auch immer eine optisch gewünschte veränderung dabei 🙂
for me my body mods aren’t something I do because I feel bad, but something I do to enhance myself and I always feel more ‘complete’ and the best version of myself with more mods. Of course there is a limit, and I only do one at the time, so I can enjoy my ‘evolving’ process..
Hope this makes sense to you 😉
Makes sense, yes. And I like your point of view!
I used to self harm when I was a teenager, I’ve never really used body mods as a form of self harm though, I know some people who have but it’s not ever something I’ve connected to negativity. I guess it’s just one of those things that are different depending on someone’s life experiences though.
True, what is good for one person, is bad for another…
Well I can readily say that one of my tattoos was done when I was at one of my lowest points, and the pain of getting it did “help.” Pain releases endorphins, which make you feel good/better, so I can totally understand using body modification as a coping strategy if you are one so inclined to that. What’s potentially scary about it is that it could be seen on the same continuum as cutting, which is arguably done for the same reason.
I still have two more tattoos planned and am hoping to get the next one before my birthday in April. After I’m done them all (yeah…I have a set number for a set reason), maybe I’ll start up with piercing again. I have a mental image of myself with a lip ring hehe. Hopefully one day!
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and the reminder of those fascinating things our bodies can do by itself!
And good luck on sticking to your number of tattoos ^^
I remember once hearing Christiana Aguilera used to get body mods when she was feeling down! I am sure it is much better than say, self harming. I know I got my “Light” tattoo when I was in a really bad place. It was meant to be a reference to “There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in” by Leonard Cohen and a reminder that we are all broken but can be wonderful too.
Oh I like that quote and the meaning you see in it ❤
It might be a little bit of both sides of body modification…there’s the pain that distracts, but after the pain is over, there’s something new and beautiful which replaces it. Overall, that sounds like a pretty cathartic experience to me.
Probably the wolf would bite the artist before he could place the needle though?
Oh, he absolutely would. Body modification isn’t something he would ever choose for himself…but it’s not impossible to see how it could be cathartic for someone who doesn’t mind things the way he does.
This is a very interesting subject and your thoughts about it are smart and observant! 🙂 I think people can do same things for different reasons, so someone might want to get a piercing mainly because of the pain and another because modifying one’s own body means one is in control of it. And hence in control of something significant in his/her life, even though some other thing has just caused them to have a bad day. And for someone getting a new piercing is like buying a candy bar for consolation! So I think an action of getting a body modification is not a good or a bad one on its own, the motives behind it matter more. ^_^
Thank you for sharing your thoughts! I actually like the candy bar reference!
I never had bodymods but nearly got a tattoo once. I was feeling good, and I wanted it because I had been thinking about it for years and my colleague’s latest tattoo was a trigger. But I could never make it to the studio. I was scared to death. The only thing I did was dyeing my hair red and again I was in a good mood. I don’t know if bodymods are like self-harm, but to me it would be a treat to my body if I ever got ready for that damn tattoo. I think however it could be like self-harm when you crave a bodymod everytime you feel down…
Great thoughts and well, maybe some things need their very own time to be done!
I think a lot of us do things, when something goes wrong. I know for me, I have a bad shopping habit, which I have to admit, I have stopped! Yeh! The one thing I am working on now, is the eating! Trying to do more exercising and painting! It’s hard! As long as you don’t regret anything you have done!
That’s true, bad habits are only bad when they make you (or somebody else) feel bad ^^ Good luck fighting the eating thing!
Very interesting discussion Ramona!
For me, my first piercings were like medals for achieving cool things in my life (like graduating from highschool or getting better grades, ect). However the last piercings I got, felt like I was trying to give myself comfort and theraphy. I feel so happy about each one of them, whenever I look at them they are a reminder that things can be better. My tokens of of success.
This being said, I agree that this is deffinitly a psychological phenomenon. 😀
♡
🙂 Sounds like a positive one though!
[…] my ear pointing by Samppa Von Cyborg). You can also take a look at my other posts on bodymods here: Bodymods and Self Destruction (yes, this again was in quite a rough period of time for me but something I’ve been planning […]