Tattoos and the Pink Panther

I've been thinking of getting a new tattoo. I already have two - the ironman symbol just above my ankle and the word courage written on my wrist. I did ironman in 2008 (ironman is a long distance triathlon - 3.8km swim, 180km cycle and then a full marathon 42.2km run) so that tattoo commemerated the achievement. The word Courage is a reminder to keep picking myself up and trying again and again even when things are difficult and I want to opt out. I read a quote once that said something like
"The greatest victory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall". So I have courage written on my wrist not just to remind myself to keep going, but also to acknowledge all the times when I have fallen and picked myself back up again.

For my next tattoo I was originally thinking of two things which are symbolic to a lot of people. A lotus flower grows and blooms in muddy water. It symbolises new beginings and the ability to rise above obstacles. The hummingbird represents overcoming difficult times and can also mean joy and hope. They are beautiful birds and I also love the colours of their feathers. Of course there are other interpretations of these two things but to me, together the lotus flower and hummingbird would mean acknowledging the difficult times I've been through with my mental health, the growth I've achieved and the hope I have for the future. However....once I started looking around at ideas I realised how many people have this same idea and started wondering whether I would be better with something more personal to me.

So what I am thinking about at the moment is the Pink Panther (cartoon character) as an artist like he appears in either The Pink Painter Show (season 1, episode 14), or The Pink Painter in the 1993 series.

The Pink Panther is pretty special to me. When I was little my godfather brought me a soft toy one back from England. I never had a teddy bear, just my Pinky as I called him. He was what I cuddled when I went to bed, and what I reached for when I was upset. Then, when I got married, I was given a large pink panther on my wedding day as a gift by my immediate family. My support crew for Ironman all wore pink t-shirts with a picture of Pink Panther on them and "Go Iron-Cat" on the back. And a few years ago when I finally had to throw my childhood Pink Panther out because the his fur had rotted and all the stuffing fell out, my daughter gave me a new posable soft toy which sits in my room.

I thought it would be pretty cool if I could somehow incorporate my past (symbolised by Pink Panther) and what I've learnt (being art - I had lessons when I was unable to work during the first of my major episodes) into a tattoo. Then I remembered seeing the Pink Panther as an artist several times and so that idea has been floating around in my head for a bit. Not sure where I'd put it - I'm thinking lower left leg as my ironman symbol is on my lower right leg. I still have to be careful about covering things up for work as I'm a professional and meet with clients all the time, but lower leg tends to go unnoticed and can easily be covered by pants if I have to. Might be time to go and talk to a tattoo artist and see what ideas come up...