At A Glance
Author	anonymous
When	N/A
Artist	Kevin
Studio	Sacred Skin Tattoo
Location	Arizona

Eight years ago, I opened the CD case of my first ever CD: _Tidal_ by Fiona Apple. On the first page of the CD booklet, there is a gorgeous photo of Fiona. Her midsection is revealed in the pose; a large silver hoop in her navel is on prominent display.

It was the first time I had ever seen a navel piercing. Right away, I thought, "Hey, one of those would look great on me, too!" Let me emphasize that I did not want it "just because" one of my favorite music artists had it. No. It just so happens that was just the first time I'd ever seen that sort of piercing and I just loved the look of it right away.

However, it took eight years for me to get around to getting my own belly done. It is embarrassing, but sometimes, alone in my room, I would shove a regular hoop earring in my belly button and pretend that I had a navel piercing. (No, I *never* pierced the skin; I just sorta clipped the hoop in. I would NEVER have tried to do a piercing myself; that is a bad, bad idea!).

Why did I wait so long to get it done? It was more out of laziness than fear of the procedure.

My mother didn't freak when I let her know, at the age of 14, that I wanted it done. She said it would make a nice present for my 16th birthday. However, when I turned 16, I had just moved cross-country and was all alone in my new home. What fun is it to get pierced if you don't have a group of friends to share the experience with?

So, I waited.

I swore all up and down in high school that I'd get it done. But, even after I made some friends, laziness prevailed.

Finally, at the age of 22, my brother's girlfriend and I came upon a little coincidence: we found out that we both wanted our navels pierced, and we were both good at convincing each other to get things done.

So last December, I found myself in a nice, clean-looking tattoo parlor. When the piercer arrived, my friend and I stepped over to his glass counter to pick out our jewelry. Now, I am a petite girl, and so I have a little belly button. The piercer had to go to the back and find smaller jewelry for me.

I picked out a simple silver, 14-guage curved barbell. I elected to get mine done first.

As I lay down on the table, the piercer asked if I'd like the curtains around me opened or closed.

"Closed, please," I said.

The tattoo artist beside us went, "Awww, you're no fun! Not going to let us watch?"

"No, it'll make me too nervous. Sorry!" I said as the piercer drew the dark curtains around us.

My piercer was very professional and has a calming, easy-going attitude. First, he used a marker to dot out where my barbell would come out. He gave me a chance to look in the mirror and approve the placement. It looked perfect to me.

I lay down on the table again. I was wearing a black shirt that revealed my midsection, so I didn't have to pull up my shirt. However, I was wearing a black jacket. I bunched up the fabric in my fists in anticipation of the coming pain.

The piercer showed me the needle that he would pass through my navel, to show me that it was sanitary and wrapped in an unopened package.

Next, he set a small metal tray of instruments on my belly. "Don't look down if you don't like needles," he warned.

I picked a spot on the ceiling to stare at.

I followed my piercer's instructions exactly: I breathed in, held my breath, and breathed out when he told me to. I concentrated hard on the spot on the ceiling, almost like putting myself in a meditative state.

I hardly felt the clamp, the needle passing through, the jewelry being slid into place. That amazed me that it didn't hurt at all.

After it was over, I checked myself out in the mirror. "I love it!" I gasped. I realized that I had felt that, all this time, my belly button had been naked, incomplete. Now it was the way I wanted it to be.

With a flourish, I drew back the curtain and showed off my new belly button to my friends. Eyes grew wide; gasps were heard. They said I was so brave, so awesome.

Six months later, and I still love my piercing. I was sure to follow the care instructions to a t. I still keep up with regular cleanings and sea salt soaks. So far, I have never had any pain, any redness, any weirdness.

I am pleased with the curved barbell and I am looking forward to when I can wear some hoops and some other styles of barbell. But, it will be a long wait, at least six more months or so.

And a way to bring this story full circle: years after I fell in love with Fiona's belly ring and, of course, her music, I finally got to see her in concert two days ago. AND I got to meet her and get her autograph before the show! It was a dream come true.