In my last entry, I wrote about perspective—how what we leave undone can be just as important as what we lay down, and how meaning shifts depending on how we choose to see it. Today, the theme that built on that was patience.
For my artist hour, I drew a traditional Tiger with flowers—a classic symbol of balance between beauty and wild beast. The trick to the sketch was to balance the shadows and light to help the boldness of the lines stand out while not creating an image that gets muddy and turns into a dark blob in time. In tattooing, as in life, the best results can’t be rushed. A sleeve can’t be finished in a single sitting. Healing doesn’t happen in a single day. Growth isn’t instant. Patience is the bridge that connects trust and perspective to something lasting.
The Inktober prompt for today was “crown.” I decided to draw a baseball wearing a crown—a nod to October baseball, when champions are crowned after months of hard-fought games. It fit perfectly with the day’s theme. The crown doesn’t come from one swing or one win—it’s the result of steady training, effort, endurance, and patience through the long season.
That same patience applies everywhere: in tattooing, in healing, in creating art, and in life. You can’t rush a masterpiece or a meaningful recovery. Both demand that you show up, put in the work, and give things the time they deserve. Sit too long in the chair and the skin can’t heal right; rush the design and it loses balance. Everything worth doing right takes time and care.
Patience means trusting that progress is happening even when you can’t see it yet. Every pass of the needle, every line drawn, every step forward matters—whether in art or in personal growth.
That’s why patience is essential at Honor and Ink. Each tattoo session builds on the last. Each line, each shade, each piece of negative space—all of it matters, but only when given the right time to breathe. The same is true of our lives. With patience, the bigger picture starts to come together.
Next time, I’ll share how patience leads to acceptance—because when we give things time, we learn to embrace both the beauty and the scars as part of the same story.