Becoming Me

There has been a shift in me over the past few year something I struggle to explain or ever understand. Recently I have come to realize when I look back just a few years ago I wasn't me. I was a construct of my culture, family, religion and experiences. I lived, felt, thought and experienced the world through a filter but not as me.
The thought I have had rolling around in me is "I wasn't, then I was." The feeling is so strong that it almost feels like I wasn't even a true person yet. But the thing is there was no dynamic explosion or anything that led to me becoming me. It was gradual almost like the shell that had encased me, the construct that had been made by that outside myself, has crumbled and fallen away one piece at a time. Parts of that shell are still there and I am still working to break them away, but at least now I am aware of them.
Now I am me, not yet a fully realized Me, but on my way. I now live, feel, think and experience the world as me not as a socially constructed robot.