Do you feel like what people see is what you really are?

When I was younger, probably not. There was a lot of hair, makeup and weirdness in the 80s, and I think some of that persona might have obscured my deeper side and my insecurities. Hot pink lipstick and safety pins in your ears can do that to a girl. ;)

These days, I’m pretty much a ‘what you see is what you get’ kind of person, so I’m probably easier to read now.

Hey, I did the safety pin thing too! And paper clips.

Ooh, I did paper clips, too! I’d entirely forgotten about that.

… ditto on the safety pins, however it was more or less whatever part of my body/face seemed most conveniently punctured at the time.

No. I do not think that people see the real me very often. I only just recently came to this conclusion, though now that I have I feel like I was stupid for taking so long. I consider myself an honest and very open person, but I don’t think that is all there is to it. I recently hurt two (not one, two.) of my very good friends simply by failing to express how much I care about them. I have come to see that this is one of my faults… I am not good at expressing my emotions, not the positive ones anyhow.
Human beings are very complex.. I believe that no matter how true to ourselves we are that we are constantly shifting, changing in big and small ways. I think it takes a lot of work to really see a person for who they truly are. Even the ones that are genuinely open.

My close friends and family know I am a ‘what you see is what you get’ person.
It has often been said by others that they think I am an extremely confident person… but I’m not really.

No…I don’t kazoo naked for just anybody! ;)

I used to feel like I was more than what they saw. Now I feel like I am less than what they see.

Only in terms of my gender. Aside from that I’m very much “what you see is what you get”.

I am afraid that people see my outer self and not my vulnerable inner self.

Contrary to what my username suggests, they see me, just not all of me. They mostly see the best and socially acceptable parts of me. I’d gladly show all of me if asked. And no, that does not mean I’m getting naked :P

No. And that’s a good thing.

No – I come off as a ‘nice girl’ – I’m, in reality, loud-mouthed, opinionated and don’t identify with being a girl.

It’s hard to say. Like anybody, different people know different things about me. Does anyone know anything close to the whole story? I feel like some people do. But no one knows all of it. I don’t think that would be possible.

I even question whether I know all of me. In the last few years I’ve discovered that there are parts of me that I don’t recognize. They pop up from time to time.

How much of me appears on the surface or through the way I express myself? I couldn’t even guess. However, I don’t have that feeling of “nobody understands me” the way I used to.

They find out eventually ;)

No. I never open up to me. People often have the assumption that I’m stuck up, but I’m not. I just don’t like telling people my personal business. People don’t see who I truly am because I don’t let them mostly.

The one person that really knows the “real me” is my best friend Jenny. Then, sadly, the people on Fluther, I think. I’m a lot more open here. I don’t know why. I don’t mean about stuff about me, just open in the ways that I talk and stuff. Probably because my mom’s not on Fluther, thank goodness.

Yes. I show what I want of “the me” to different sets of people. My friends know more of me, of course.

I think only one person really knows me. That would be my brother. He’s known me all my life and continues to be my best friend. The only thing he doesn’t know about me is about my sexual life and that is because he really doesn’t need to know that. That would just be creepy.
Second to him is my husband. Then my kids.
As for the rest. I think way too often they misread my intentions because I really am not that open all the time.

My inner vacuity renders me invisible.

I’m very much what you see is what you get.

However, that does not take into account the filters people have. I cannot easily get around that.

I will answer this how I’ve always answered it. Ahem!

99% of the people that know me have the wrong idea of me.

For the most part, yes. Actually, i can’t think of something right now that i could be “hiding” from some people.