Fake tattoo

On Halloween night I asked my girlfriend to draw two symbols on my arms to go with the vibe. When I met up with my friends, they asked if that’s real and said they wouldn’t be surprised if I got an actual one, like a dragon or something.

While this comment itself doesn’t carry much weight, it exposes the gap between my self-perception and other’s perceptions of me.

I tend to think I am more or less a conservative guy, who adheres to societal conventions like building a career to acquire a stable stream of income and do not see myself as a rebellious person. Yet some see me more edgy than I imagine, making such contradictory narrative compelling to navigate.

Am I a conformist or non-conformist? I ponder.