How do I know if I'm ready to make a major identity shift in my life?

Readiness isn't a feeling that arrives like a visitor. It's more like noticing you've been standing at a threshold for a while, and staying put has started to cost you something—your voice, your time, your sense of what's possible. Sor Juana spent years in the convent before she could articulate what she needed: space to think, to write, to exist as herself. Look for the signs: Are you asking harder questions about who you actually are versus who you've been told to be? Do you feel a pull toward something, even if you can't name it yet? Are you willing to lose some people's approval? These aren't guarantees, but they're honest indicators. The conversion happens not all at once, but in small acts of claiming what's true. Start small: one conversation you've been avoiding, one part of yourself you've been hiding, one question you finally ask out loud. Notice what shifts. You don't need permission to become yourself—you need clarity about what you're becoming and why it matters enough to change.