be myself?

what in the very very wide wild world does "being yourself" mean?
how do I "be myself"?
caroline pointed out to me the other night that I am always trying to come off a certain way, to appear a certain way, to be a certain way. To what aim? Perhaps so people will like me? so I will feel good about myself? I'm not really sure. The problem is, I don't know how "act naturally." I don't know what "being myself" looks or really feels like.

help! I want to be free from the confines of my own brain! My hyperactive tangle of neurons!

I want to sing like birds sing, not worrying about who listens or what they think. -Rumi

If you begin to understand what you are without trying to change it, then what you are undergoes a transformation -J Krishnamurti

To be great, be whole;
Exclude nothing, exaggerate nothing that is not you
Be whole in everything. Put all you are
Into the smallest thing you do
The whole moon gleams in every pool.
(Fernando Pessoa)

I'm Nobody! Who are you? (emily dickinson)

The secret of a soul-based life is to allow someone or something other than the usual self to be in charge. (Thomas Moore)

The moment we begin to fear the opinions of others and hesitate to tell the truth that is in us, and from motive of policy are silent when we should speak, the divine floods of light and life no longer flow into our souls. (Elizabeth Cady Stanton)