Letting go of the past, one tattoo at a time

Anthony Wilson s own experiences with addiction made him believe in second chances and so when he decided to open his own laser tattoo removal business he saw it as an opportunity to help other people start their lives over again Wilson was deep in alcohol addiction when he checked himself into a Florida rehab and recovery center in May It was the hardest best decision I ever made he commented I left three kids and a failing marriage and a house and my whole world behind Wilson was in detox for two weeks then went to rehab I was gone for a full two months he reported When he returned to his home state of Minnesota Wilson s marriage was over He knew he had to stay occupied to keep himself from spiraling into depression and turning back to alcohol abuse He d seen a picture of a bad tattoo on Facebook and when he saw a laser tattoo removal machine for sale online he decided to take the leap By November of that year Wilson had purchased the machine took a lesson on how to use it rented an office and opened his business Fearless Tattoo Removal Ever since it s been a journey of self-awareness and healing I love doing it Wilson stated of the work It s been amazing It s helped me personally He used to drink at home so the idea of having nothing to do unnerved him Opening a new business felt like a way to keep himself out of danger he mentioned Having this way to get out of the house was good for me and having a job that helps others made my life feel worthwhile Wilson s not sure if he realized it at first when he opened his business but he s come to believe that tattoo removal is all about second chances My favorite part of the job is hearing the stories about how people are moving forward and what they want to do he commented Numerous people make the decision to permanently mark their bodies without giving the idea enough thought he disclosed and when you throw in mood-altering chemicals or mental illness questionable decisions can get made Do I think people make less-than-great choices while they are under the influence Wilson announced Yes I deal with it on a regular basis Since opening Fearless Tattoo Removal Wilson explained he s met a large number of people who are desperate to remove images from their bodies that they feel no longer represent who they are Chosen people even say that seeing those unwanted tattoos are a reminder of a past that they ve worked hard to put behind them Wilson s not against body art He has a tattoo of his children s names on his chest over his heart But he does want to give people an option to erase what feels to them like a bad decision I like tattoos he mentioned I just want people to have good tattoos He s especially glad that he didn t get any tattoos while he was drinking If I had had a vodka bottle tattooed on my shoulder when I was drunk now four years later looking at that vodka bottle wouldn t be a good reminder he mentioned We don t need to stare at the past all the time I m not saying forget the past but I m saying that sometimes it s good to put specific parts of the past behind us They want to forget the past and move forward In the spirit of helping his customers start a new chapter in their lives each May in honor of Mental Medical Awareness Month Wilson gives away a tattoo removal package to a person who has struggled with addiction or mental illness and would like to remove a tattoo that feels like a painful reminder of their past Another group of people who have tattoos they would like to remove are individuals who have been incarcerated countless of whom have also struggled with addiction and mental illness Wilson also has a Second Chances activity where he offers reduced-rate tattoo removal packages to people coming out of prison who have tattoos that they feel mark them for life and make it tough to get by in the outside world They want to forget their past and move forward Wilson declared One such client is Mike Dahlin who was distributed from prison on Feb after serving a -year sentence for second-degree aiding and abetting murder Dahlin has had a large racially offensive tattoo on his upper arm since he was years old four years before he went to prison I was just a kid when I got it he reported I thought it s cool I was really dysfunctional I had a drinking concern I had a lot of anger problems I used race as an excuse for not focusing on my own pain and emotional problems Dahlin noted he wasn t involved in the white power movement when he got the image tattooed on his body and he now thinks he chose the image because he was looking for a way to seem tough People who get that kind of tattoo when they are young like I was they often genuinely have a lot of emotional trauma Dahlin mentioned Instead of focusing on your problems you do stupid stuff like get a tattoo You hate others so you don t hate yourself During his decades behind bars Dahlin announced he got various more tattoos but he inevitably felt that the racially offensive tattoo majority of defined what other people thought of him When he was disclosed from prison Dahlin went home to live with his mother and stepfather He researched methods to get rid of his tattoo and when he learned about Fearless Tattoo Removal and about Wilson s initiative for formerly incarcerated clients he made an appointment When Dahlin went to Wilson s shop Wilson appealed which of his tattoos he the majority longed removed Dahlin displayed him the racially offensive one It s obvious Dahlin stated It had to be that one I hated it They used it against me at trial And when I got into prison I was lumped in with those kind of guys Now that he s out of prison he knew it had to go I really longed to change and start a new chapter Wilson who declared that preponderance clients share painful stories of why they got their original tattoos and why they now want them removed was moved by Dahlin s story Even though Dahlin made the decision to mark himself with a deeply offensive tattoo Wilson revealed he believes that his client is truly remorseful about the decision While the tattoo in question is offensive and off-putting Dahlin himself Wilson noted is indeed kind and contrite even gentle He s the nicest guy Wilson explained He s super grateful He s paid his debt He believes that with this tattoo he would not be able to go to the swimming pool and be around kids Dahlin has now had several appointments with Wilson The process of removing a tattoo takes time and the two have gotten to know each other better at each visit They each talk about their struggles with addiction and about the difficulties Dahlin is facing as he slowly gets used to being out of prison and in the free world I ve been having a hard time adjusting to life since I ve been out Dahlin reported With his mother s help he s getting cure for anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder PTSD I am seeing a therapist and a psychiatrist I have medication that is really helping me I feel bad about the stigma that people get for having their mental wellness treated It is just as central as going to the professional for a physical obstacle Another key form of emotional promotion for Dahlin is Archie his mother s Boston terrier I didn t believe in therapy animals when I was in prison he commented But this dog has changed my life I didn t know I could love an animal this much this fast Anthony Wilson These days Dahlin declared just spending time with Archie helps improve his mental medical When I first came home when I petted him I could feel the tension and stress go out of my fingertips and go into him Dahlin commented Anyone who s ever experienced PTSD or anxiety demands a therapy animal that they can touch and feel After multiple sessions at Wilson s shop Dahlin s tattoo is almost comprehensively removed It s unbelievable how well it worked he stated Anthony revealed that by the time he s done it should be totally gone I owe him so much The process of having his tattoo removed mirrors the recovery Dahlin s been experiencing since he s been out of prison It gives him hope for a better future less marked by the past If I could change Dahlin declared anyone could change How tattoo removal works Wilson explained that laser tattoo removal is a process of using an immense amount of focused vigor to break up the ink in a tattoo so it fractures and is slowly removed from the body in a natural process When we fire a laser at a tattoo we fracture that big particle into pieces Wilson reported Then he explained the person s body takes over Your body is going to go in and take out the small pieces it can handle The body is invariably trying to get rid of the tattoo It doesn t belong there The process of tattoo removal is slow and must be repeated over time Wilson continued We let it heal and we repeat the process as necessary Chosen tattoos take longer to remove than others Everybody s tattoos are different Wilson commented If your tattoo is black and near your heart and it s very old that will come out much easier than someone who has a very heavy blackout calf piece Removing that style of tattoo could take a much longer time From start to finish that could take a year to year and a half Wilson mentioned The closer it is to your heart the faster it comes out Since he started his business Wilson has taken about people through the process of tattoo removal I schedule half-hour time slots he commented If it is an initial on your ring finger the appointment could take as little as seconds If you have a giant thigh piece it could take the full minutes Before and after photos of a tattoo Anthony Wilson removed for a client at Fearless Tattoo Removal Credit Submitted photo When Wilson is done with his work he commented he likes his clients tattoos to be erased to the point that If you didn t know it was there you wouldn t see it Chosen of the largest tattoos he s removed include half-sleeves from wrist to elbow I removed a large phoenix for a woman Wilson commented It was the entire outside of her thigh I ve removed a couple of small crosses that people had on their faces Five-to- of my entire business is face-tattoo removal Clients have different means of describing how much the removal process hurts Everybody s different Wilson declared For specific people it hurts quite a bit depending on the location Tattoos on the inside of the wrist or the ribcage or the neck those tend to be the greater part painful for folks The the majority common analogy I hear is it is like being slapped with a rubber band The post Letting go of the past one tattoo at a time appeared first on MinnPost