A Tattoo Idea — Yellowfin Tuna
There was a long time that I was so amazed by code that when you write a line of code, it does precisely what it does, and when you write a few lines of code, you can make something more effective and efficient. I liked it so much that I wanted to run my life the same way and as efficient. (Another idea was also born during this time, I looked up to the software engineering practice so much that I wanted it integrated into my life!)
So I observed my daily life and tried to optimise and simplify it in every possible way. And I ended up with a routine that I had tuna and rice for lunch at work everyday for more than a year because I couldn’t be bothered with the decision making process of what to eat for lunch everyday and I automated it. I would cook up a lot of rice every weekend (I made it brown rice so it’s healthier) and bring it to work on Monday. One day a week, I went to the supermarket across the road from work to get 5 tuna cans (I complaint to my colleague when the price of a can went up from $1.30 to $1.40). And I also wore the same clothes everyday so I didn’t have to wake up and make the decision what to wear. I was fully embracing the beauty of a machine, leading a rational life and avoid emotional decisions.
A side effect of that is, it made me very disconnected with the real world. I don’t mean I stay in the house all the time but I ignore a lot of things, my housemates have a lot of plants around the house but I was blind to them. I went on hikes all the time but I barely pay attention to the trees and birds. I preferred canned food over fresh veggies because they are perfectly sealed, don’t make a mess in the kitchen and never go off. All the lively things are just a backdrop for me.
Until one day it came to me that I had tuna for this long and I didn’t know what a tuna looks like. So I looked it up online, and I watched nature documentaries, I even watched one that a Japanese lab spent 30 years researching and experimenting to build the first artificial tuna farm in the world. Tuna marks the beginning of my journey outside the bubble I’ve been in.
Since then, I started paying more attention to the surroundings instead of solely focusing on the grand ideas in my head. I walked around the neighbourhood and noticed someone made a great curb-side garden. I got a plant named Alice and I check on her first thing in the morning everyday, it makes me so happy when I see a new sprout coming out. I got more plants. I started growing some vegetables in the backyard. I realised there’re so much more amazing things when I started to see things.
My obsession with optimisation has become a means to an end which allows me not to do more but choose to do what’s important. And the answer for me now is the real things in this real world.
So I want to keep a yellowfin tuna tattoo as a reminder that sometimes I can get stuck in a very small place for good and bad reasons, but it’s better to move my mind around and keep a balance of different perspectives, like knowing tuna is not only a can but a living creature who had an exciting life before arriving at a supermarket shelf. It’s a more mindful way to live.
Read about my other tattoo ideas:
