Virgos are known for their cutting intelligence. This is true and will most likely remain true for the entirety of a Virgo’s life. They are the whiz kids of the zodiac. They are the smart kids who study things in depth and in scope at the library. They are the ones who know all of the things that you didn’t know.

Okay, we’ve established that part of Virgo. Now let’s get to the question of how other people see Virgos.

Let me start off by giving you two examples of Virgos: Kim Namjoon and Jeon Jungkook from BTS. Oh, I know. I make everything about BTS. Deal with it. These are the only celebrities I am really interested in. If you don’t know who these people are then you might want to go enjoy a little BTS.

Namjoon is a very funny person. He is known for being a bookworm and for being a very competent speaker and musician. However, this isn’t exactly how people might see him. When fans perceive Namjoon, there is the sharp wit but there is also something else—a bumbling, haphazard, and stumbling goof. Namjoon is most endearing not because he’s Good At Things but because his mistakes and gaffes are relatable. An interviewer asks Namjoon for his favorite food and Namjoon says “Meat!” in a way too sexual tone. He freaks out when Taehyung uses the wrong foot for a dance. He tries to get a plastic bag and spills everything on the floor.

Now consider Jungkook. Jungkook is obviously very good at a lot of things. He learned video production and motion graphics really fast. He’s an excellent and precise artist. He even does impeccable impressions. Out of all the skills that an idol requires, Jungkook is good at all of them. He’s officially part of the vocal line but he’s also an honorary member of the dancers.

I think that Jungkook is also relatable but in a different way from Namjoon. Jungkook makes a digital drawing of the word Saipan and leans close to the screen and focuses on every pixel. He designs a cute cartoon character but he gives it an intense photorealistic six pack. He makes a birthday video for Yoongi and it doesn’t look homemade at all but like a polished Apple advertisement. Jungkook is relatable because, when we see him taking things way too seriously, we remember all the things that we take too seriously too.

So, these are two examples of Virgos. One is a bit older and has integrated his incompetence, because everyone in the world is incompetent at some things sometimes, into his definition of competence. Another one is younger and he’s still mostly good at the things he tries out.

I don’t mean to imply that Virgos are incompetent. Virgos are obviously very competent. What I’m trying to say is that Virgos tend to identify with their competency and, in doing so, they do the Mercurial thing of focusing very intently upon one target.

Virgos are very good at the thing they focus on. They might be skillful at playing the violin. They have put hours upon hours of study into playing the violin. They know they are good at the violin and they still push themselves to be better at the violin. Or, maybe Virgo is really good at reading people. They know all of the best questions to ask in a conversation and any encounter with them always blows your mind hole apart.

That doesn’t mean that Virgo will be the best they can be in other things. No one is. None of us are superheroes. We’re just plain old people.

I want to suggest something. What I want to suggest is this—when other people see Virgo, we don’t actually see the competency all the time unless it’s relevant to the situation. I don’t mean to say that we don’t notice when a person is accomplished. We do. You get a Virgo going about the thing that it strives to thoroughly master and they will impress you. What I mean to say is that other people might not always see Virgo when it is in the height of its focus. We see Virgo from all sides and we can see all of the funny little things that Virgos tend to do because they shifted attention to several things in life in order to get where they are.

A lot of astrological delineations of Virgo read Virgos to be precise, capable, and intelligent. All these things are true! But when you meet a Virgo, you’re probably not going to be meeting a ruthlessly brilliant superstar who wipes the floor with all of their sheer natural ability. You’re far more likely to meet a funny and goofy fellow human being who mostly behaves carelessly and haphazardly but, then, at crucial times, will blow you away with one stroke of uncanny and often frightening genius.

So, that’s the outside perception of Virgo. Sorry, Virgo. None of us are looking at you and expecting you to be meticulous. We are looking at you and wondering if you ever go to bed before 4 AM, wondering why you just accidentally ate an orange with the peel still on, and wondering how on earth you even got to work that morning without noticing the loose almond falling out of your pockets because you forgot you had a bag in there before you did the laundry.

I think that the idea of Virgo somehow fulfilling some ideal of the perfect human being isn’t something that really registers for outside observers of Virgo but can still feel daunting to the Virgo themselves. You have to remember that you don’t see Virgo when they are at their most relentless. A lot of the things that they push themselves on are things that they prefer to do when they are completely alone and no one else is looking. This is when Virgo cuts themselves open, bleeding to try to become the ubermensch. They don’t necessarily express that side of themselves when they are around other people. Virgo is where Venus falls. It actually expresses itself best in solitude.

Virgo doesn’t really care when other people see it as incompetent as long as those things are not things that they are trying to be good at. They don’t really care about things unless they have chosen to become invested. You see, competency is not about pride for Virgo. Competency is about enjoyment.

When a Virgo learns to do something better, they are actually constantly contending with the feeling of inadequacy. They can see clearly how they themselves need to improve. They are quite used to perceiving themselves as funny little learners who are just trying their best but aren’t quite there yet. They are not as bothered by you pointing flaws out to them as you might think. Sometimes, Virgos can even be a bit self effacing.

The reason why a Virgo will strive for competency is because they truly just enjoy the thing. This is especially true when you consider how Virgos tend to choose to study things that they know will earn them no money or status. A lot of Virgos are poets for god’s sake. They’re not doing this out of pride or because they want to prove themselves. They’re doing this because they really just want to be the best they can be at the things they love. If a Virgo who likes creative writing works a day job as a programmer, you might even find that they will program poorly just so that they have more attention and time for making up stories.

The Virgo also does tend to obsess over niche things. This is also why so many people around them might see them as spacey or faltering. I knew a Virgo once whose main specialty was restoring taxidermied animals. Obviously, most people in their life don’t see the perfection of their skill of love because most of us aren’t into taxidermied animals. That Virgo was a punk and walked around unshowered most of the time.

It’s really funny when Virgos try to present their competency in situations where they really just don’t care. They can tap into the performance of a skillful person because they know what that’s like where it matters but it falls apart in the end. I had a boss at a retail store who was a Virgo. She came in with a grand plan to change all of the systems of the store down to every single detail. But did she really care about her retail job? I don’t think so. I think she was performing a professional masquerade so that she could keep her job. Why? Because it didn’t work. No one followed the system. When no one followed the system, she didn’t even notice.

You can bet that, when a Virgo cares, their plans will succeed. They will make sure of it. They will pay attention. But when a Virgo doesn’t care? They will joyfully and willfully live in shambles.