Billy has several tattoos, but he chose this set of eight, each letter spelling out the message.

"It's the endless question," he mused, "of the glass being half-empty or half-full."

"So," I interjected, "you're an optimist?"

On the contrary, he informed me, optimism does not come naturally to him. He "would like to be" more of a "glass half-full" person, but he has had his share of challenges, to say the least.

Billy has been clean for two years, after a long struggle with heroin addiction.

The letters on his fingers come together when he makes fists, and he acknowledged that he often has "to beat it into [his] head to think more positively".

"By ourselves, we are not complete," he said, and explained how this simple interaction, two strangers meeting and discussing a tattoo, it's this kind of event that is what life is all about.

Billy was very positive, talking about a tattoo that grounded him and gave him the strength to live his life in a more fulfilling way.

The fingers were inked at Cliff's Tattoo of Long Island.

Thanks to Billy for sharing his ink and taking the time to talk tattoo!