I hate the phrase "authentic self." As if there's only one true self, buried under a mountain of fakes. I think the self is amorphous and contradictory, paradoxical and ever-shifting. I think the self is something we continually negotiate in our interactions with others and the environment. I think trying to identify an authentic self is like trying to hold water in your cupped hands. You can hold some of it for a little bit, but all the while it's trickling away through the cracks.