Scarification can be a lengthy undertaking, particularly with cuttings that require flesh removal. To keep yourself from being worn down by the repetitive cut/peel/cut/peel process, you have to get creative. Like Brian and Wayde on this collaborative piece done at SW3. When life hands you lemons, make lemonaid. When life hands you strips of human flesh… make a tic tac toe board.

Re-cutting by John Joyce. Photograph by Casey Goldsmith.

I was asked earlier today if the cutting on my face was more about the end result of the scar or the process of having it done. It was a genuine question, asked by someone who’s probably never talked to someone with a cutting before, much less a cutting as public as on a face.

I tried to compress a lot of information into a very brief conversation; that yes, the final aesthetic was important, but for me it was much more about the process. On the surface my scar is less than 3″ long. It’s subtle, something that doesn’t raise a lot of questions and looks as natural as a planned facial cutting can be.

On a deeper level it represents trust, emotional healing, facing my fears and dealing with psychological baggage I had tried to ignore.

That’s one of the things I love most about scarification; that once you bypass the aesthetics there’s a whole world of texture underneath that most people never hear about. That something so painful can be a very positive experience whose effects can be immensely therapeutic.

The cutting in tonight’s update is on a friend who I’ve been thinking a lot about tonight. Hopefully she knows that no matter what, we’ve always got her back and that we miss her very much. <3

More after the break.

The cutting was originally done by Vampy at the SW1 event in 2005 and was recut by John Joyce at the 2007 SW3 event. Chin up, Elmo!