The Authority of Your Own Experience

Sor Juana insisted on empirical knowledge. She observed, she tested, she trusted her own intellect and perception. In a world that told women their experience was inferior to male authority, she asserted: I have seen, I have thought, I know. This concept is radical for identity crisis. You have been told you are wrong about yourself. Others claim authority over your experience: they know what you really feel, what you really need, who you really are. This concept returns authority to you. Your experience is data. Your observations matter. Your understanding of your own life is not subordinate to expert interpretation. When you begin to trust your own experience again—what you actually think, what you actually feel, what you actually need—identity begins to cohere. You are not a diagnosis. You are a knower. Sor Juana's insistence on the authority of her own mind offers permission: trust yourself.