This diminutive, yet complex lace heart would make a stunning first tattoo.

Photograph courtesy of drInkbrly

Plenty of women in their 20s get ill-advised tattoos memorializing celebrities they'll soon dislike, pop culture events they'll soon forget and other youthful tributes to things that don't matter. But now that you're in your 40s, you know what you like and what's meaningful to you. So why not honor your home state or the date of your kid's birth with some commemorative ink?

We're not talking extravagant portraits (although those can be beautiful, too). These are a few first tattoo ideas for how to honor something, someone or someplace you love in an elegant way.

Nod to your roots with the outline of your home state or the coordinates of where you grew up.

Photograph courtesy of JMedeirosPhotography.com

This original, minimalist tattoo of a serotonin molecule was created to celebrate depression recovery.

Photograph courtesy of Leah Lusyd Doolittle

You can't go wrong with a meaningful date in a classic font.

Photograph courtesy of Zoey Taylor