{"id":79,"date":"2025-10-08T07:39:03","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T07:39:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/honorandink.com\/Blog\/?p=79"},"modified":"2026-02-08T19:06:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T19:06:39","slug":"acceptance-becoming-just-john","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/honorandink.com\/Blog\/acceptance-becoming-just-john\/","title":{"rendered":"7 – Acceptance: Becoming Just John"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The time it takes<\/h2>\r\n

In my last post, I wrote about patience<\/a>\u2014the time it takes to let things unfold, the discipline to trust progress even when it\u2019s slow. Today\u2019s theme is acceptance, and this one hits close to home. Acceptance isn\u2019t about giving up. It\u2019s about acknowledging what is\u2014and allowing ourselves to move forward from there. Sometimes it means accepting the things we can\u2019t control. Other times, it\u2019s accepting who we\u2019re becoming. And sometimes the best way to take control of this is through art or capturing it in a tattoo.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

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\"Image
Trad Nails with unconventional lighting and shadows.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

For my <\/span>artist hour<\/a> today, I focused on that shift. The drawing was a traditional image of iron nails, but we were asked to shade it in an unconventional manner. \u00a0This shading allows the subject to have more depth and contrast. It is a reminder that ordinary objects when viewed in a different light can become extraordinary.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

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\"Fun
Two ninja in an epic battle between light and darkness<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

The Inktober prompt for today was \u201cstarfish.\u201d I decided to have some fun with it\u2014drawing a pair of cartoon ninjas, one black and one white, throwing a ninja starfish. Instead of a regular star, the weapon was shaped like two koi fish intertwined in a yin-yang pattern, their fins forming the sharp edges. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

It\u2019s a playful image, but it carries a lot of meaning. The two koi represent balance\u2014the constant movement between opposing forces that defines growth. Light and dark, strength and vulnerability, discipline and freedom.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Acceptance is about finding peace in that balance, not trying to erase one side or the other. \u00a0That balance has been on my mind a lot lately. I\u2019ve had to come to terms with the fact that when I retire, I\u2019ll no longer be an Army officer. That title has been part of my identity for so long that my nephews and grandkids call me \u201cArmy John.\u201d It\u2019s been who I am for decades.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But soon, I\u2019ll simply be John.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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At first, that felt like a loss. The Army gave me structure, purpose, and direction. But now, I\u2019m realizing that acceptance opens up something new. Without the rank or the uniform, I have room to rediscover the artist I\u2019ve always been underneath it all. The side that finds meaning in symbols, stories, and the craft of tattooing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Acceptance isn\u2019t the end of an identity\u2014it\u2019s the evolution of one. Just like a healed tattoo looks different from when it\u2019s fresh, we change with time. The lines soften, the colors settle, and the meaning deepens. The mark is still there\u2014but it\u2019s more real now.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

That\u2019s what I want to bring into Honor and Ink. Every person who walks through the door carries their own mix of light and shadow, pride and pain. Through art, we can accept all of it\u2014the full story\u2014and make something lasting out of it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Next time, I\u2019ll be writing about resilience<\/a>\u2014 because once you\u2019ve learned to accept who you are and where you\u2019ve been, the real strength is in what you do next.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The two koi represent balance\u2014the constant movement between opposing forces that defines growth. Light and dark, strength and vulnerability, discipline and freedom. Acceptance is about finding peace in that balance, not trying to erase one side or the other.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":82,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"page-with-title","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11,8,26],"tags":[19,16,20,18,5,14,12,15],"class_list":["post-79","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fun","category-learning","category-reflection","tag-art-motivation","tag-artist-hour","tag-creative-growth","tag-drawing-challenge","tag-healing","tag-inktober-2025","tag-tattoo-shading","tag-tattooing-101"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/honorandink.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/honorandink.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/honorandink.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/honorandink.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/honorandink.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/honorandink.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":568,"href":"https:\/\/honorandink.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79\/revisions\/568"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/honorandink.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/honorandink.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/honorandink.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/honorandink.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}