This is part of a reading comprehension question in the JLPT 1 exam. [Complete
question](https://translationifk.com/ja/luyen-thi-jlpt-n1-ngu-phap-va-doc-
hieu-de-so-1-ifk/).

It's actually an excerpt from 「(ほんとうの自分）のつくり方ーー自己物語の心理学」

> 自分の姿がおぼろげにしか見えないうちから、まずは語ることを始めなければならない

What does ないうちから mean? And what does the entire sentence mean?
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grammar
What is the meaning of うちから
「○○うちから(内から)」 means "starting from when ○○ is the case".

My guess is that the quoted setence is from literature, and it gives me a very
surreal impression. The speaker seems to has a strong belief, something like
sense of duty, and/or be determined. So I'm not sure how accurate I can
explain, but the speaker seems to be suggesting that he/she must start
speaking while s/he can only see themselves vaguely. Anyway a quite unusual
situation!

The use of 「うちから」 in the quoted answer [Difference between うちに and
うちから](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/42075/) is different from yours,
but I [gave a detailed
explanation](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/100045/) there about
「うちに」and 「うちから」.

BTW you asked about 「ないうちから」, but that ない is paired with the preceding 「しか」,
i.e. 「しか...ない」 = there's only.
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answer
うち in this case means "enclosure". It could be a group of things, a time
period, etc.

This is the clause that modifies うち

> 自分の姿がおぼろげにしか見えない

> A shape of yourself (kind of like your true self) is nothing but vaguely
> visible.

Adding うちから

> 自分の姿がおぼろげにしか見えないうちから  
>  From the enclosure (of time) when your shape is nothing but vaguely visible

The whole sentence:

> 自分の姿がおぼろげにしか見えないうちから、まずは語ることを始めなければならない  
>  From the enclosure (of time) when a shape of yourself is nothing but
> vaguely visible, firstly you must start talking (to yourself).

I think the nuance of うちから is something like "as soon as". We also have まず...

So, idiomatically:

> As soon as you get a glimpse of your true self, you must, before anything
> else, start talking to yourself.
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answer