Self in a nutshell

I was in a bit of an introspective mood the other day, and fancied lobbing a thought-teaser into the fire.

"If you had to use one word to describe yourself, to capture the real essence of who you are, what would it be?" I asked Doobie and Ilajna, usually the unfortunate recipients of my nonsensical rhuminations.

There was the expected period of uhmming and aahing and avid head-scratching.

Then Doobie gave a sage nod. "My word's simple," she said. I have to confess my eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. Doobie might have many self-professed qualities, bless her heart, but there ain't a drop of simplicity there.
"Are you joking???!"
"Dead serious." And the funny thing is, she actually was. Dead serious, I mean. So I clamped my smirking mouth.
"Doobie, babe, I'd never call you simple."
"NO WAY!" Ilajna rolled her eyes at Doobie.

Her interjection having caught our attention, we both turned to face Ilajna.
"And what's your word??"
"I've thought of one," she said. "Silly."
Doobie and I gawked at her in surprised silence.
"Err, I'm not sure that captures the essence of you, to be honest. I mean, you're not always silly."

"Okay I know mine," I shouted from the bathroom, where I was examining my face in the mirror. Sometimes it helps me introspect if I'm actually looking at myself. You might think I'm cuckoo, but I'd prefer to describe it as 'visually stimulated'. "Loquacious," I said, by way of my self-appointed descriptor.
"Nah," they both said dismissively. No argument or justification. Just - nah.
"But I know me," I argued.
They paused to think that over for a moment.
Then, "nah." And my self perception, so carefully thought over, was summarily dismissed.

And suddenly it struck us all, the vast gap between our self perceptions and the way we were viewed by others. Even some of our closest friends.

Do I know myself? Do others know me? Do I see what others see of me? Do others see in my what I want them to see? Do they see what I see that they see? Do I see what they would see? Could see? Should see?

Gah. This introspection business is no mean task.