Being an outsider is totally normal, everyone has been an outsider at one point. I myself have felt like an outsider many times even though I am someone who fits right in. I love to talk to new people but everyone is always distracted when I talk to them. When I was younger it never came to my mind why people would glare above my eyes while talking to them but as I grew older I started to understand. 

I am a religious person and I always have been because my parents raised me with religion surrounding my life. I have never been ashamed of my religion but sometimes when people constantly stare and even make comments, it makes you want to put your head down.

In my religion we have something called a Tilak Chandlo. A bright red dot centered perfectly between an orange u-shaped line connecting at the center of my eyebrows going up my forehead on both sides of the dot. The orange tilak represents the charanavind (or holy lotus feet) of God. The red chandlo represents the bowed head of a devotee of God. 

I always put a tilak chandlo on my forehead after my morning puja, the act of worship, and I have always been proud of myself to have the courage to walk with it. I learned to accept that people will talk about it and there is nothing I can do to stop it. However I can help people understand what it is and why I do it. Over the years I have heard some wild things about my tilak chandlo and it’s always fun to hear a new one because it's usually the same joke, “Sniper, duck!”

As I grew older I stopped putting my head down and started to walk with pride even if someone made a joke or racist comment, I stopped talking it to heart because I now realize that some people will do anything for attention. Being an outsider can make you want attention so ironically it wasn't me who was the outsider it was the people who couldn't accept something new.