The cultural narrative that loving your children requires sacrificing yourself is exposed as a lie that serves no one.
Sor Juana lived in direct contradiction to the narrative that demanded women choose between intellectual life and spiritual devotion, between self and service. She demonstrated that these are false choices constructed by systems seeking to control women's capacities. The same false binary haunts modern parenting: love your children OR be yourself, sacrifice OR be selfish. This framework reveals the trap. Sor Juana's life and work show that the deepest love emerges from wholeness, not fragmentation. When you remain intellectually alive, creatively engaged, and true to your values, you offer your children something infinitely more valuable than your self-erasure: you offer them a model of human dignity, a person who takes their own life seriously, someone who insists on their own worth. The false choice serves only those who benefit from your diminishment. Real parental love includes love for yourself as a person worthy of time, growth, and protection.
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