Disability

Relapsing polychondritis, Narcolepsy with cataplexy, Reynaud's, steroid-induced Type 1 Diabetes, Celiac disease.

Social Media

Instagram: @prancing.peacock opens a new website

Do you feel empowered by your tattoos?

When I get tattooed it's a reminder to myself that I am strong, powerful and can put up with an intense amount of pain. My tattoos are a constant reminder that pain can result in something beautiful, that pain isn't just something distracting and uncomfortable that I deal with every day because of my disabilities.

They also make me feel beautiful, powerful and are a reminder of the stories and joy that we pass down through generations, within communities and across the planet. My body is a temple, albeit a creaky, crumbling one, and I honor it by decorating it with tattoos and loving it even when society or my disabilities makes it hard to do so.

My tattoos are symbols of the things that are important to me and bring me joy - organizing, community, birds, plants, mythology and languages. Joy is so often ignored, withheld or outright denied to disabled people and we deserve all the joy in the world, and more. Therefore I think of my tattoos as resistance and as a political statement of the beauty and joy that we have every right to.

Assigned Photographer

M Getsay