What is Eudaemonica?

I was amid probably around 20 dogs in the playground and kennels, as I sat pondering what I was going to name my art/potential tattoo instagram account. The loud barking didn’t help, but a couple things came to mind.

One - What does this account mean to me? And two - where is it going? I sat at my dog daycare job, with more confidence than I feel like I have on most days. I was about to start over… again. I had been looking for what I really wanted to do for many years, but because of so many obstacles that had gotten in the way, I was never really able to devote the enough time to anything, or explore anything seriously enough. Nothing I really wanted anyway.

Here I was, boarding, training and taking care of dogs daily. Don’t get me wrong - it’s a dream job. In the summer, I’d bust out the lawn chair, throw on some sunscreen and a hat, put on my speaker and let the dogs out - literally! Well, in a controlled safe environment, that is, I didn’t want any dog fights to break up. But it was a really fun job, every day was different! I had my favourites, and who wouldn’t want to take their own dog to work with them every day? But the more I did it, I realized it just wasn’t for me long term. It had served its purpose - got me out of the depression I was in, and now I’m able to read dog behaviour and understand them way better than I could have ever imagined.

I was at a crossroad. I could either fully commit to opening up my own daycare, using my own knowledge from my Rover experience and my dog training education, and go all in and open up my own daycare… or I could start all over again. My heart was nagging me. I knew if I never gave an artistic career a fair chance, I’d never be at peace. And so, being fortunate enough to start again, again… I decided to give tattooing a shot.

I really wanted to devote my time to learning how to tattoo properly. It was peak COVID - fall of 2021, so I had nothing better to do anyway. But this time… I wanted to thrive. I didn’t want this to be just another thing I tried once. So that’s why I wanted a name to reflect that.

According to google - Eudaemonia translates to “human flourishing”. It is the state of well - being, happiness or welfare. Or the highest human good. I think that resonated with me because I wanted to use my art to do good for people - but also, I wanted to finally accomplish something that made me happy. Something that could sustain me, give me purpose, and make others happy. The total Ikigai, if you will. Now was I going to be good at it? I had yet to find out… but I was grateful that I was in a position to try.

And so… eudaemonia was born… no wait Eudaemonica. I basically found a way to put my name into it. Hello Eudaemonica Tattoo