When Edward Castillo arrives back home from school every summer, he and his friend Ian Javier don’t meet up to watch a movie or catch up over dinner — they get tattoos together.

The tradition began two years ago after the friends, who are regular blood donors, learned that donors must wait a full year before giving blood again after getting a tattoo. That summer, they specifically planned to donate the day before going to the tattoo parlor.

In the summer of 2015, they decided they wanted to tattoo words and quotations that were important to them. Castillo, a junior finance and economics dual major, has a tattoo of a Steve Jobs quote on his bicep that says, “stay hungry, stay foolish.”

Castillo decided on the quote after watching a video of Steve Jobs speaking to a Stanford University graduating class. He said he heard the quote and felt a personal connection with it, having really appreciated the advice that Jobs was telling the students.

“He was telling them that no matter where they end up in life, they can’t lose that hunger for success,” Castillo said. “They can’t be afraid to take risks and make mistakes along the way.”

But one set of tattoos really connects the two friends. The year before Castillo and Javier got quote tattoos, the two both decided to get matching Buddhist symbols that encompassed their morals and values. Castillo tattooed an enso on his right triceps, while Javier friend tattooed an eternal knot.

An enso is a Buddhist symbol that means “circle” and looks like a misshapen circle that doesn’t close at the end. The stroke of ink seems dark and thick at the beginning before curving and fading away. Castillo said he decided on an enso because he’s a perfectionist, and ensos symbolize the acceptance of imperfection.

“I’m usually very hard on myself when I come across failure, and I wanted something that would remind me that eventually I’m going to fail because I’m not perfect,” Castillo said.

Growing up, Castillo said he had always been focused on being the smartest in his class and the best in basketball. Now that he’s older, his enso has helped him realize that being the best is not always realistic.

Said Castillo: “What I’ve come to realize is that I can’t be a jack of all trades because then I’ll be the master of none.”

Published on February 9, 2016 at 12:01 am

Contact: lmeyers@syr.edu