The Story Behind the Lines
Sitting under newly blossoming trees, Jess Balich traces the lines of her tattoo on her arm. In that moment I asked her why she likes her tattoo so much and she answers, because it’s not just a tattoo to me.
Balich is a 22 year old from Chicago IL. and a recent graduate from Colorado State University, with a degree in psychology, and a love for tattoos.
When Balich turned 18, she knew exactly what she wanted, her first tattoo. Instead of a drawing she wanted a quote,“the sun will rise and we will try again.” That quote came from her and her sister’s favorite band Twenty One Pilots.
“I love this quote because it helps remind me even when I have a bad day that the sun will rise again and we have a new day to try again.” Balich says with a smile.
Balich’s older sister got her fist tattoo to cover up a scar from a painful past. Seeing her sister smile at the drawing, she knew from that moment on a tattoo was so much more than just lines on your body.
Tattoos are also one of the reasons Balich chose to study psychology. With many researchers that believe tattoos have the ability to allow people to show self expression and can be a way to heal from the outside in. That’s exactly what Balich wants to do in her life, to help people heal.
Many stories of people who have gotten tattoos to help overcome grief or trauma in an article by The Guardian dives deeper into the history of how tattoos have done just that.
Her favorite tattoo is that of a pair of eyes on her upper arm. “You can tell a lot about a persons emotions based on their eyes. It’s the first thing I noticed about someone and I think there is a lot of hidden meaning behind the eyes waiting to come into view.”
She hopes by sharing her tattoo journey people will see that having tattoos doesn’t make you a specific kind of person but allows people to express themselves in ways words just simply can’t.
Jess Balich has 14 tattoos. She is far from done with her story.
