*Disclaimer*
I think that one of the most wonderful things about this project is that although all the tattoos will be "the same," each one will be unique, both stylistically, and in the sense that it will mean something different to each person. For this reason, I almost hesitate to give my "why" for fear that it will be construed as somehow binding. That being said...I want to say for the record, that I do not "hate peace," no matter what certain people might say. Admittedly though, it is not a profound love of or longing for peace that drove me to participate in this project. It was love though. Love of people, I suppose.
Picture this: It is ten years from today, and 1000pct has taken off in a big way. Somewhere in the world, there are 999 other people (probably a lot more) who are marked in a way that connects them, meaningfully, to myself. Maybe a handful of these people are friends of mine, or have become my friends through this project. Most of them though, are a mystery to me. This is a beautiful thing. This way, every time I pay for gas, every time a waitress tells me her name, every time a stranger on the street smiles at me, I will wonder, what is that peeking out above the collar of her shirt? I could be a tattoo of a paper crane. A tattoo just like mine.
I believe that we are all connected intimately to people we don't know we are connected to. You might be traveling in a foreign country, thousands of miles from anything familiar, and meet someone in a train station who grew up in the same hometown as you. You might read a book, and then take a new job and talk to someone who works there about the book and learn that the author was her first boyfriend. We are linked to others in beautiful and unimaginable ways. These tattoos will be a physical manifestation of those bonds. A constant reminder that no matter how lonely we may feel, we are never alone.
Moreover, once we start wondering "could this new friend have a paper crane tattoo?" we will realize that the answer doesn't matter. We will assume that everyone sitting on the bus with us DOES share our unique bond, even if they don't display the outward "symptom."
I'm Ryan Scott, and this is what my crane means.
