The Tattooer That Can't Tattoo

Some of you may have seen on social media that Now or Never Gallery has temporarily closed our doors due to the recent covid-19 outbreak. I wanted to talk a bit about the closure, what that looks like for clients and my humble thoughts on the whole situation.

Our conversations at the shop over the last couple of weeks became more serious as we watched (along with the rest of the world) how quickly the virus was spreading. Last week, we began to see other states mandating the closure of hair and nail salons and tattoo shops. After discussing the risks, the difficult decision was made to close our doors for a minimum of two weeks. This is not a decision that was taken lightly. Tattoo artists only make money when we're tattooing. We have no sick time, no vacation days or paid time off. 7 artists and 2 managers chose to push the "pause" button on life to do our part in containing the spread of covid-19. For our clients that had appointments booked, we concluded that the best method was to have everyone "on hold" until we're able to confirm a safe date to reopen. I knew that we were making the right call, but still worried about everyone that had an upcoming appointment. I know booking isn't an easy process and I always try to show the same level of dedication in the work I do for you. I dreaded giving the bad news, but I have to say, you all have been so wonderful. Not a single one of you were upset. In fact, several of you said we made the right decision and offered to keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we navigate this process with no income. I feel safe in speaking for the other artists in saying that Now or Never has a truly amazing client base and we can never thank you guys enough for your support during this chaotic time. 

Like many of you, my household has been practicing social distancing. I must admit, as an introvert, I'm not hating it. Don't get me wrong, I would absolutely prefer to have the world go back to normal. I know many are suffering and deaths are in the thousands as of the time of this post. This is our reality, the hand we were dealt. Now, we must figure out a new normal. A few months back, I read (very slowly) Carlo Rovelli's The Order of Time. In a very poor summary, Rovelli discusses the physics of what time really is and, in short, it should be measured more by events and not a clock. Time is relative. I can say that during our isolation at home, I've had a couple of days in which the clock had no meaning. I moved from one task to the other. The sun was up at one point and later it was down. It was actually quite profound. How often in 2020 can we go a day without looking at the clock? My home has stopped being just a place to eat and sleep. We live here now. I have actually stopped to notice the cobwebs in my corners. As I plan what school from home is going to look like for the next few weeks (or months), I realized that I needed a lot more info from my son than I thought. What is it that he does all day at school? I really didn't know as many specifics as I expected I would. On Thursday, we experienced a death in the family. At this time, we have space to grieve and contemplate the impermanence of all things without having to quickly put a bookend on it. Let me be clear, I do not wish illness or tragedy on anyone, but for those of us lucky enough to simply be stuck at home for days on end, don't waste it. I looked out my window earlier, watching the birds hop around, completely oblivious to our pandemic and impending financial crisis. I could see new bright green grass begin to grow into my neighbor's gravel driveway. It seemed rather timely. Beautiful new things will push through this heavy, harsh situation that we're all in. Winter passes into spring without humans needing to lift a finger. As Ian puts it so eloquently in Jurassic Park, "Life finds a way." What will 2021 look like? 2025? Very different, that's clear. What I hope for the future is that we will learn to forget the clock a little more. We will stop to take a deep breath and be thankful to do so. We will be kind and remember how quickly our circumstances can change. We will learn the lessons and take them to heart from the time when the world stood still. 

​Be safe and take care of each other.