Mike Martin
Flesh Skin Grafix Tattoo and Body Piercing
Imperial Beach, Ca.
I have been around for a while and have been involved with extreme input during my life. As a Navy SEAL, I was a point man for two tours in Vietnam and had the privilege of being one of the few to go through training twice. I got out for thirteen years after my duty in Vietnam. I joined a motorcycle club, started collecting tattoos and had quite a collection when I checked into BUD/S (Navy Seal training). I got my first tattoo when I was 24 years old--that was 1974. Then I got my ear pierced. I came back into a new era in the Teams in 1986, and our deployments took us to the Philippine Islands, Thailand, Malaysia and Korea. It was during one of these deployments that my spiritual side awoke. It was on a little island in a reservoir in Northern Thailand, I stayed the week there with a Buddhist monk, just the two of us. We prayed often and burnt a million sticks of incense. Meditation was a little confusing for me at first, but I did OK. Together we ate the food that was offered by the people who lived around the reservoir. We communicated with gestures and a few Thai words on my part and a few English words on his part. We got along fantastically--he even sent for another monk to come to the island to meet me. He was attracted to my tattoos, and I undressed so he could see them all. He did the same. He was covered with prayers over most of his body, and I was impressed. I was sad when it came time to head back to the USA and I did not realize then how much the short time I spent with the Monk would affect my thinking over the years to come. Since then I've been to war again, but in a much different role than my baptism of fire in 'Nam. Still, it too had its effect on me.
Then came the One Project, I heard about it through the tattoo/piercing community here in San Diego and was intrigued with the whispers I heard about town. I heard names of people I have the greatest respect for: Corey Lolly, Didier (DDA), Bethra and Alicia from APP, to mention just a few. I also heard other words that made me listen harder: Words like spiritual, meditation, and acceptance of all people. I knew that most of the people would be way younger than me (I'm 57) but I was not deterred, I felt that this event was one I needed to attend and I am happy I did. I was not disappointed in any way and I did not feel any negative energy toward me. I participated in all of the events and tried to channel my spiritual strength to a loved one far away from his family. I meditated, I was comfortable in the sweat lodge, I hook pulled, I bent the rebar a couple of times and I even drank of the special CoCo (yummy). I breathed in the silver sage and Cory and DDA hooked me up and hung me from a tree at about midnight. The moon was almost full and I was naked, Wow! I got hugged and hugged back and it was wonderful. I stayed and helped with the cleanup and even enjoyed that. I loved the ONE festival and will be back next year.
The one aspect that I notice the most is what goes on in my mind three months later and the way I feel about people and powers beyond this lifetime. I can't get the One Project out of my mind and I really don't want to. I am sure I will continue to learn from this experience. Thank You Cory, DDA and everyone else that made it happen. Peace, Love and Hugs.
-Mike
