Akkeri.

It's the Old Norse word for anchor.

Traditionally, anchor tattoos are meant to symbolize home, hope, steadfastness, calm... qualities that for a long time were absent from my life. For a long time, the digital world was the only place that remained somewhat constant. Of course from a longer view, the internet roils and changes like Poe's maelstrom, but living through the early adoption of the internet it was bright, and shiny, and the possibilities were endless.

I met people. I made friends. I hope I was a friend to others. I made mistakes, I had triumphs[1], and failures, and experienced things I think you can't anywhere else. Of course the drama sometimes outweighed the fun, but the sense of community in those early days was something long lost, and long mourned.

So, akkeri. Sometimes we need a place to rest, a place to disentangle, a place to decompress. This is my place. This is my space.

[1]An actual Triumph, a 2006 Street Triple that for a long time was the love of my life.