I read Goffman's "The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life" for my performance studies seminar. Although dated, the book makes the point that we are all performing all the time. In the "Communication Out of Character" chapter, he talks about people switching from front stage to backstage activity, and refers to the backstage as the place where people are out of character. If we are performing all the time, perhaps we are simply performing different characters, none being either in or out of character. If the out of character person is also a performance, is there a true self? Perhaps our true natures are expressed when we most believe in our performance.