Meaning of 地のまま


地のままの自分でいればいい Ji no mama no jibun de ireba ii.

What does this mean? ji is oneself, jibun is myself, as for ireba I understand
it is to accept (verb ireru)and "ba" is the conditional "if".

"地のままの自分" self in the same state myself "いればいい" is ok to accept so the final
translation is "IT is ok to accept myself as I am" IS this translation
correct?




The translation isn't far off the mark, but you got two points wrong.

・The 地 ("earth") here means something (or a state of being) that is natural,
unvarnished, unadorned. Hence 地のままの自分 = "one's self as it is natural"; "one's
natural self".

・いれば is a conditional form of いる ("to be"), not いれる.

A literal translation:

> If one is his/her natural self, it's fine.

Pragmatically speaking, what/who the subject of 自分のままでいる is and to whom 自分
refers depend on the context -- on who is addressing this sentence to whom (if
anyone). Also dependent on the context is what sort of communicative purpose
it has. It can be a general statement of an idea ("It's good if people are
their natural selves.") or it can be a piece of advice to an angst-ridden
friend ("Just be who you are. It's okay."), or it can be about the speaker
themselves ("I can be the natural me ,and it'll be alright."). A good
practical translation should take all these factors into account, and it
cannot be done without context.

