Getting into a new groove
Recently I joined a new shop. It’s been around for a few years, it’s just new to me. Every other weekend is busy, being next to an army base which pays its troops every other week. This gives me an opportunity to get settled in gradually, since there’s sometimes a bit of downtime around the shop.
In addition to the new shop, I’ve been trying to expand my experience with different pieces of equipment that I haven’t yet tried. This includes new brands of ink, nitrile gloves instead of latex, new machines, and single-use needle tubes. I’ve always only used needles one time, then disposed of them, but traditionally tubes are stainless steel and are cleaned and sterilized in the shop, then re-used. Switching to single-use tubes means one more small way to improve the health conditions around the tattoo world.
I’m still using the needle tubes I first bought when I started tattooing back in 1990, so it’s hard for sentimental reasons to switch to disposable tubes. But, sometimes it’s good to go a little outside your comfort zone to explore new ideas. Being open to new things can lead to new areas of creativity, even if it seems like something mundane or inconsequential on the surface. Breaking out of a habit helps you learn new things, and gives you an opportunity to reexamine the things you do out of habit. Sometimes doing things the way you’ve done them for years is the best way, which is why they’ve become a habit. But when new information or materials become available, we’re able to choose whether our habits are still good, or if we should develop new ones.
Tomorrow, I’ll see if there are any new habits I can form. I have some new equipment just sent over directly from China that is just begging to be tried out!
-Alex
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