Hmm...I'm really not sure how to answer this thread. I relate to some of the comments in here, but don't think I relate as much to other things being said- at least to the extent that I think is being described.
I think my 'baseline' personality, if you will, is one of projecting calmness and being even-keeled. I don't get riled up easily, I tend not to express negative emotions and prefer to process those all on my own unless I get to a point where I realize I need other input, and I have never been described as verbally or emotionally expressive/demonstrative. However I haven't been described as cold either, except in a situation when a friendship was ending and I was then deemed 'robotic'.
I'm also not really one to discuss at length how I'm feeling, in the moment, because I'm one who wants to think through all of that so I reach a place of being centered/calm before I talk about it. This is because I don't really want to put much weight on momentary feelings - I may have contradictory feelings, I may not even know what I'm thinking/feeling if I'm put on the spot, or I just might know that the feelings will pass once I've reflected on them. Those are a few reasons I tend not to want to talk about them. I need a lot of processing time to figure out what's going on, feeling-wise, when it ties to interpersonal relationships/dynamics and how I want to proceed or how I realize I need to proceed after thinking about all of it. Or it might just be that my perceptions are totally out of wack due to the particular mood that I am in, and I know myself decently enough to know by now that if I'm in certain moods, I can't trust my perceptions very much. Let them pass, then everything's good. Another day shines forth.
But... I don't relate to not wanting someone to fully understand me. I want to be known and appreciated/loved for who I am. I also think that my nonverbal communication can be very expressive/obvious, and I don't really have a problem showing my emotions to those I am really close to, even if it might just be a facial expression or a big hug rather than words - I can be extremely affectionate, and in photos and such I smile and all of that. I'll also very easily show happiness or positive emotions. It's just those more intricate situations...putting things into words that I don't have as much skill with, although I wish I did in those situations where I really wanted to express myself more clearly or whatever...this mostly applies to my boyfriend.
But thankfully he and a few of my other close friends seem to be ok with my rustiness in expressing certain things - I have been told, and know, that if I were to compare myself to most, I can come across very awkwardly. So as long as someone has the patience to let me speak in my slower, back-up-and-rephrase, long pause, another sentence comes out state, that's I suppose all I can ask for.
I am a woman of few words. Which socially can make things pretty awkward at times.
The irony though is that in a work setting I'm told communication is one of my biggest strengths. So I sort of have to separate my communication ability in a non-personal context (task-oriented/analysis type impersonal things), vs. my communication when it comes to expressing my deeper self/thoughts/feelings/identity.