I did something weird the other day: I took out my tongue ring.
It was a bit of an impulse thing. I had been thinking about it for awhile - months, sort of, but only vaguely - when I found myself sitting alone in front of my computer, having the following conversation with myself:
Me: Maybe you should take out your tongue ring.
Me: Yeah. Maybe? But it feels like an actual part of me. I've had it for almost ten years!
Me: I know, it's hard to let go. But maybe that's the very point. It's just a THING. You SHOULD be able to let go.
Me: Oh my God, you're right! Shit. Should I? Is this the type of thing where I need to learn to just do it and move on?
Me: I think it is, kiddo. Plus, how many freakin' teeth have you chipped? Remember when you lied to the dentist about it?
Me: Yeah...
Me: Is it really that important to you, in the end?
Me: I don't know.
The secret thoughts that I didn't want to admit to myself I was having were the following:
1. Are you just doing this because your dad hates the tongue ring? Or are you keeping it in for that reason?
2. What is the boyfriend going to think? Is it going to...um... alter anything?
3. What are you going to play with when thinking about something while reading?
Before I knew it, I was pulling the damn thing out. It's still sitting in my special box on my desk, not quite sure of where it wants to be. I guess it's just waiting for a permanent home until I decide I'm not going to re-pierce my tongue (at home, alone, in front of the mirror) like the last time I took my tongue ring out for a month (it hurt).
But this time I think it's really gone.
It feels kinda funny, honestly. Not just on a physical level - because that totally feels weird too... it's like, hello! Fronts of my teeth! - but also on a psychological level. It sounds lame, but that ridiculous barbell really was a part of me in some dumb, teenage way, and I really do sort of miss it.
But I spent the first five minutes after taking it out trying to perfect my rolled Spanish/Arabic R's, which - although not perfect - are far easier to do without a piece of metal getting in the way.
I guess I just wanted to grow up. Get a real job and all that (next thing you know, I'm going to be wearing blazers) Anyway, feels weird, but feels right.
The other piercings are staying, though, man. Damnit.
When I took mine out, it was pretty much for the same reasoning. I just said to myself "eh, I don't think I care anymore." I thought about it for a few hours (thinking that I probably am wussier than I was when I did it 7 years ago) and took it out, and that was that. I don't really regret it. I miss my tragus more than the others (I might actually consider redoing that one).