Struggle Tattoos

Lili Reinhart

Lili Reinhart has a tattoo of an arrow on her forearm which “represents fighting through depression and anxiety.” She has struggled with mental health problems since she was 12 years old and has used both therapy and medications to help mange it. She encourages others to take control of their own mental health and seek out the help they need, advising them not to give up on themselves. She told People Style:

“The arrow represents mental health awareness. I talk a lot about depression and anxiety and my own struggles with it, so I wanted to get it. I saw a quote, it’s kind of like…’an arrow can only go forward by being pulled back, so when you’re going through a hard time, being pulled back, it only means you’re about to experience something greater and bigger.’ So that’s what that represents to me. That was a mantra that I would say to myself when I was going through a hard time, that it it only means it’s going to get better.”

Lili had her own moment of being pulled back to move forward in landing the iconic role of Betty Cooper on Riverdale“Riverdale came into my life when I was going through the worst depression I had ever experienced. And in the end it completely saved me,” she tweeted. The aspiring actress had moved to Los Angeles on her own at age 18 to pursue her career, but her anxiety kept getting worse, luckily now a days we know that products like cannabis can help with anxiety and people can even get bulk cannabis online. Eventually things got so bad that she couldn’t stay and had to move back home to focus on her mental health. At home she switched to a new medication and resumed seeing her old therapist to work on rebuilding herself. She actually recorded her first audition tape for Rivderdale while at home but got rejected. When she was healthy enough to move back to Los Angeles it was with a renewed fervor. She went to an in-person audition for Betty Cooper and landed the role.

The worst times in her life had led to her big break, but when she got the arrow tattoo she didn’t actually know yet that everything would turn out alright. It was perhaps more a symbol of faith that she desperately needed at that time. She got the tattoo from artist Dr Woo in June 2015, right before she left Los Angeles. “Thank you, @dr_woo_ssc! I waited for months and finally got my tattoo today (second one to date),” she wrote.

Actress Mädchen Amick, who plays Lili’s mother Alice Cooper on Riverdale, has a matching tattoo from the same artist, but it’s purely coincidental. Mädchen’s arrow is a symbol of her zodiac sign Sagittarius. They noticed the matching tattoos the first time they met during a rehearsal for Riverdale and instantly bonded over it.

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Chiara Ferragni

Chiara Ferragni tattooed an arrow on the back of her right ankle in June 2014 to represent how progress comes from struggles. She explained its inspirational message on her instagram:

An arrow can only be shot by pulling it backward. When life is dragging you back with difficulties it means it’s going to launch you into something great. So just focus, and keep aiming.

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Marzia Bisognin

Marzia got this tattoo on her left forearm in September 2015. The writing, which says “La casa sulla luna” in her native language Italian, means “The house on the moon” in English. It’s a phrase from the book We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson, which has helped Marzia to deal with her social anxiety. The house on the the moon is a metaphor for a feeling of safety. On her blog she explained:

But this topic brings me to the next tattoo: “La casa sulla luna”, which translated is “The house on the moon”.

This refers to my social anxiety: once again, you know I struggle with it, and it used to be really really bad. This sentence comes from one of my favourite books, “We Have Always Lived in the Castle”, where the protagonist, after going through a tragedy, can never leave the house without feeling observed and judged by people.

If you have social anxiety you know that feeling very well: as soon as you leave your safe place, it feels like everybody is staring at you, and you just want to hide from the world.

In the story, the girl would imagine her safe place in her head (the house on the moon) while being outside, just so that thought could be somewhat comforting to her. And so I tried it myself, I would think about it as well while leaving the house, or when I was in uncomfortable situations, and it helped me greatly.

That’s why it’s on my body, it’s a constant reminder that I can do it, it’s all in my head, and if I think about positive things instead of letting my dark thoughts come to mind, everything will be fine.

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Juliet Simms

In September 2010 Juliet Simms got a panther on her right shoulder blade. It’s done in a Sailor Jerry style, and Juliet says it was her first traditional tattoo. “The meaning behind it is that it’s clawing its way up my back. I got it at a point of my life where I was clawing my way to the top, basically.”

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Demi Lovato

Demi Lovato got a tattoo on her back from artist Bang Bang on May 14, 2013 — the release day for her fourth album Demi. The tattoo says “now I’m a warrior”, which are lyrics from the album’s closing track “Warrior.” In the song, Demi sings about how the struggles in her personal life have made her a stronger person.

“I have a song on my album called ‘Warrior’ and it’s a very, very meaningful song to me,” she told Jimmy Fallon. “It’s really heavy, the lyrics, but it’s an inspirational song as well. It’s a negative thing turned positive. I’ve been through a lot and I’m really really honest on this album. And this is a song that was really difficult for me to write, record, and now release. [The tattoo] was kind of like a tribute to releasing the album as well as overcoming some really really difficult things in my life.” (more…)

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Demi Lovato

Demi Lovato’s most well know tattoos are the words “Stay Strong” on her wrists. Demi added these tattoos in March 2011 shortly after she spent nearly three months in rehab treating her issues with cutting and bulimia, with which she had struggled for many years.

The tattoos remind her to think positively. She told 20/20 “The message is for me. It says ‘Stay Strong.’ So every day no matter if I’m putting on my shoes or putting on my makeup, I see it every day, to stay strong.”

They were placed on her wrists, an area that she used to cut, in order to cover her scars as well as to serve as a symbol of her tremendous growth and recovery. Demi says “It was very symbolic for me to be able to be able to cover that up and also replace it with something else that’s permanent so that I’ll never be able to forget the support that I had when I went in [to treatment].” (more…)

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Iggy Azalea

Iggy Azalea has the inspirational motto “Trust Your Struggle” tattooed on her right forearm.  It is a reminder to keep persevering even when things get tough, trusting that the struggle will pay off in the end.

This tattoo dates back to when she was living in Los Angeles and struggling to make it as a rapper.  She had been in America for four years at this point but still hadn’t managed to sign a deal or put out any music.  She was having constant financial troubles since her immigration status prevented her working a normal job.  So when she saw the words “Trust Your Struggle” on a mural in Hollywood, she felt an immediate connection to the phrase — so much so that she got it tattooed that same day.  She told MTV:

I got my “Trust Your Struggle” tattoo in 2010.  I actually got it with another artist who was new coming out and the guy’s name is K. Roosevelt now.  And I used to record with him, Kevin, in his garage studio apartment.  I had no money and me and him were recording one day and I would cook him crepes in exchange for beats.  We were walking down the star walk and I saw a mural that said “Pain Breeds Strength. Trust Your Struggle.”  And I thought “I so identify with that at the moment, that’s how I feel.”  I felt like it was a sign to me to say you should keep doing what you’re doing and you should trust the road bumps. Your dream is your dream. You should pursue it. So we kept walking, and I said “I’m going to get that tattooed on me right now!”…And we walked into a tattoo parlor…and I did it.

Iggy kept working on her music and eventually things started to go her way.

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