Recovered Texts: Reclaiming Your Own Story

Much of what we know about Sor Juana comes from her own writing—letters, poems, theological arguments—texts she created to document and defend her life. Her work was partially suppressed, lost, or reinterpreted, yet recovery of her actual words transformed how we understand her. In religious identity work, you are the primary documentarian of your own journey. Whether you're navigating belief, doubt, or departure, writing your story—through journaling, letters, dialogue, or memoir—is an act of reclamation. It prevents others from narrating your faith for you. This concept invites you to become the archivist of your own spiritual life: to name what happened, what you felt, what you chose, and what was done to you. Your text, recovered and claimed, becomes evidence that you existed and that your journey matters.