Catherine Straley

Connect What inspired your most recent tattoo?

My Throat tattoo is my most recent and it's 13yrs old. It says Above & Beyond because I set a standard for myself to always go above & beyond and do better today than how I did yesterday in every way, but particularly mentally. Some days are easier than others. The goal is to add to it in a way that brings various elements of life and symbolic representations loved ones together in my own Victorian lace galaxy reaching down over my heart to my shoulders as if wearing an vintage Bolero

If your ink could speak, what would it say?

All of my tattoos are centered around mental health. Each one represents a time in my life where I or someone close to me has struggled and persevered. My first tattoo was one I did myself with a straight blade and calligraphy ink as an early teen battling with a serious mental health crisis - shining the importance of mental health care for adolescence/teenagers in world where it was once easier to over-medicate then to explore ways to heal trauma. My rose in web means beauty through hardship

What would you do with the $25,000?

I would put a down payment on a house with a little land for myself and my two autistic kiddos so we can each have our own room, space for a sensory gym and homeschooling space while being able to grow our own foods and have beautiful gardens. I would go through the process for a service dog for my oldest nonverbal child. We'd get chickens and other animals to aid teaching my kids sustainable responsibility through joy. We would visit Nanny who is 95, in NC, she raised me & I miss her dearly