Many people tend to mention the words tattoo and regret in the same breath. But tattoos, if anything, speak of the futility of regret. We can’t change our past, whether we are physically marked by it or not, so why bother yearning to?

Before I became a confirmed op-shopper, I used to hang on to receipts for everything. I wanted to be able to change my mind; wanted to believe that nothing was set in stone. I kept the tags on new clothes until the very last moment before the very first wear, and read new books as if they were fragile artefacts. The receipts were all filed away, together with a repertoire of excuses for getting away with exchanges and refunds. But I never try to return clothes or books I've bought from an op shop. Well, I do "return" clothes and books to op shops all the time, but these returns are otherwise known as straight-out donations.