Hello. I am 18 years old and have been visiting BME for about a year now. I have had my ears pierced for about 3 years but I have only been stretching them for about a year after seeing all the awesome pictures of extremely large holes in BME. At this moment, I have a 4-gauge hole in each ear and I already have jewelry to get them down to 2.
At A Glance Author Miles DB Contact [email protected] Artist n/a Studio n/a Location n/a Although I have a bunch of interesting stretching experiences, what I really wanted to write about was the psychological effects my piercings have had on me. And I think the best way to relate how my piercings have affected my life is in a story of a recent trip to the doctor's office.
Right before I left for school, I had to go to my family's doctor to get some forms signed for school. I drove out to the office expecting to be in and out in five minutes. But when I got there, I got a big surprise. One of the shots the form wanted to have, I didn't have. The receptionist told me to take a seat in one of the rooms and wait for the doctor.
Now, like a lot of people, I have always had a fear of needles. When I was little, I would do anything to get of getting a shot or having blood taken. The only time I remember that I wasn't scared to death of a needle was when I was in the hospital having surgery; and that was because I was too out of it, I don't think I even knew what was going on.
Anyways, there I was...sitting in the doctors office waiting to get a shot that I didn't plan on. When I get nervous, I play with my plugs. I started twirling them around and pushing them up and down. I just had 6 gauges put in a few days about that and I was getting used to the new earrings. While I was playing with my plugs, I had an epiphany. I asked myself, "Why am I scared of getting a shot, I have had the hole in my ear torn five times bigger than it originally was." At that point, I totally calmed down. My fear flowed off like water.
The doctor then arrived and got the needle ready. He is a family friends, so we politely chatted. He brought out the needle and told me to relax. But that was unnecessary, I was totally calm. The needle slid in and out like nothing. It didn't even hurt at all.
I walked out of the doctor's office. I was happy even though I had just gotten a shot in the arm. I had realized that my piercing had made me strong. The experience had an effect on my life; it was almost a rite of passage. I now understand why many people feel that there is a ritual in body piercing. To them the experience of piercing is equal or maybe even greater than actually having and holding the piercing. I think it is important to look at piercings as not just pieces of metal thrusted into various parts of your body but as spiritual devices, which can aid you in life. To me piercing provide you a few different types of strength.
It gives to you the physical strength of having gone throughout actual physical trauma. Although most pierced people will give dirty look to someone that asks if getting the piercing hurt; in reality it really does hurt to get pierced. Some piercing hurt more than others did, but all of them hurt at least a little bit. Even when I got my ears stretched, it hurt as more than when I got my ears originally pierced. Some people like the pain but I think universally, people like the idea that they went through with getting pierced. For many " primitive" cultures, piercing and other body mods are rituals of passage. You survived the physical trauma of the ritual and now truly are a man/woman. Then they take their place as a functioning member of the society.
Another strength that a piercing gives you is the spiritual strength of controlling your own image. Let's face it, we have almost no control over our physical appearance. It's determined before we're even born by our genes. Body Mod's are a way to reclaim control over our appearance. With piercing and tattoos, and even more now with extreme modifications like the ones made by Steve Haworth, we can change how we look. By radically changing our appearances, we can show the world how we really see ourselves. We transform our outer body to match our inner body.
Piercing aren't just simple rods of stainless steel inserted into our bodies. They can transfer something positive to us. My stretched not only look cool but also provide me with extra strength, which sometimes is all I need to vanish my fears.