obviously, i have to fit into this society but I do my own thing as much as possible. my tattoo is quite a statement now and I've had it over 20 years.so is my planter and my fence. fuck being a sheep.

When I was in my teens I was extremely naive-not streetwise in the least, when I left my dysfunctional home in high school. I was anxious to be accepted by my new social circle. I didn't judge people who came from different backgrounds than me, spoke another language, dressed differently, and had different social values. I was influenced by others but when I was approached by someone I saw as a father figure I knew something was wrong with this picture. I got those street smarts over time.

The following Wikipedia page contains a lot of pertinent information
[en.m.wikipedia.org]

@chicagojcb
When you realise that you are outside of the Bell curve it requires a lot of fortitude.
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There have been many experiments proving how people are led to conform because of peer pressure even though that peer pressure is erroneous information or lies.
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There is an interesting article on talking to yourself at [elitedaily.com]
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And of course the lead character in the play and film "Shirley Valentine" was exceptional at talking to walls and seashore rocks.
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I used to ask my imaginary parrot on my shoulder to listen whilst I argued higher (non routine) courses of action at work. Now I mainly do it silently apart from in performance practice.
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"The whole worlds gone mad apart from me and thee, and I'm not to sure about thee!" - old Yorkshire saying?