In Which I Get My Nose Pierced

Ever since reading the Divergent series, I have known that I wanted to get more ear piercings, and my nose pierced. I also knew I wanted to dramatically change my hair, and other things about my appearance, in an attempt to look more Dauntless. The whole point of doing all of this was to have the outside- for the first time in my life- match the inside.

Well, I've gotten a lot of the ear piercings, and have definitely changed my hair. My makeup and wardrobe have been changing as well. I had put off the nose piercing, because he didn't like them. Which was fine. But I kept putting it off after the breakup simply because I couldn't bring myself to do it. I hadn't gotten there in my healing yet. Quite obviously, I have gotten a LOT better in the two months since moving to Denver, and I started entertaining the thought of finally getting it done.

When I met Katie in person, for the first time, the topic of nose piercings came up. We decided we'd do it together. So a week later, this past Saturday, we did just that. We met up at the Smokey Banana, and asked to get our noses pierced. It was necessary to document the occasion through many pictures. Katie was a good sport, especially since she knew this was going to go on my blog. Poor girl was just looking for a friend, and now finds herself blog fodder. Oh well.

Here's our "before" picture, with our happy, unpierced noses.

Katie decided to go first. Bless her. She's five months pregnant with her second child, and she volunteers to go through more pain. Fearless mama, that one! 

She took a seat in the chair, and I took a quick picture as our piercing artist gave us the whole rundown of how to care for our piercings. It took maybe two minutes, and Katie was all finished and ready to go!

Katie was pretty much bleeding like a stuck pig (apparently, she does that), and yet she happily gave me the thumbs up. 

Then, it was my turn, and I happily jumped into the chair. I'm no stranger to pain, so I wasn't really terribly worried. I was just glad to FINALLY be getting my nose pierced!

Lovely picture, I know. I'm clearly not terribly vain if I'm posting this picture on my blog...

It was more like a sharp pinch than anything else...

And suddenly, it was all over! Unlike Katie, I am not a bleeder. After wiping away the one drop of blood I did get, that was pretty much all there was to it. They did a great job, and I would totally recommend the Smokey Banana to anyone in the Denver area who wants to get more piercings!

We walked up to the counter to pay, and after being told they were cash only (seriously, I never even carry cash anymore...a sign would help!), Katie kindly withdrew enough money from the ATM to pay for both of us, as I stupidly did not have mine with me. No worries, Katie got paid back! 

After a short conversation, we decided to go out for ice cream at a nearby Menchie's. We had to do something to celebrate our Dauntlessness, and ice cream is always a good choice!

We sat and chatted, getting to know each other better, and reaffirming our decision to become good friends. We spent some time swapping dating stories (she has better ones than I do, simply because...I'm just starting), and talking about what it's like to move to Denver from the Midwest and South. 

When it was time to say goodbye, we took an "after" picture of our newly pierced noses, and went our separate ways. 

I know this might not seem like a big deal to most people. And it's such a trend right now. But to me, and I'm assuming Katie too, as she comes from a similarly repressive fundamentalist background, this was a huge step. In ATI, I was taught that the condition of a person's heart and the status of their relationship with God could be judged by their outward appearance: their clothes, their hair, their makeup, and their jewelry. Even by the "light" that either was, or was not, in their eyes. While my parents never fully bought into that, I did. I was an impressionable teenager, caught up in a fundamentalist Christian cult, with no real way out. What was I supposed to do, other than accept what I was taught? I've already written in previous posts about how I had to turn off the natural INTJ functions of my brain. If I was to survive- literally- I had to accept everything with no questions. Otherwise, I'd go crazy. So I spent years, trying to look the way I was supposed to. And consequently, had no idea who I was looking at in the mirror every morning. 

Every morning since Saturday, I have looked at myself in the mirror, and realized I am much happier with what I see staring back at me than ever before. I look at myself, and I no longer see a sad, confused, lost, scared girl staring back at me. I look in the mirror, and I see a confident, brave, Dauntless woman staring back at me. I look in the mirror and I see...myself.