know thyself; know nothing
- Sophie Pierce
- Nov 4, 2025
- 6 min read
The algorithm is designed to feed us information we find attractive and often solidifies preconceived belief systems; there are millions of subsets of human consciousness ready at one's fingertips to absorb. However, it is paramount that one does not become a byproduct of consumption. Media consumption shapes our views, outlooks, and regulatory states (think, media controls the masses via fear).
If we blindly consume without forming coherent thoughts outside of the algorithm, we are trapping ourselves in an extremely limiting box that ultimately takes away our freedom of choice; we strip ourselves of freedom within our minds, bodies, and realities.
Taking an opinion at face value without first dissecting the intersections that inform the opinion is sheep behavior.
With that said,
I was scrolling, as I do, and I stumbled upon a video speaking on the intersection of class, healing, and creating, the ultimate premise being, “healing is for the poor, creating is for the rich.”
Essentially, the post was arguing that constant over-identification with one's triggers and perpetually looking for “what’s wrong with me” keeps one in a state of attracting similar situations.
The post stated, instead of asking the question “what are my triggers?” ask “what would I prefer to believe?”
In this essay, I will take a deeper investigation into the assumptions made about the healing process in the post, the intersection of class, and explore a trauma-informed understanding of the basic concept of consciously creating one's reality through healing.
Firstly, the post is confusing healing with the victim mentality. Harboring the victim mentality will keep one in a loop of circumstances to which they deem themselves a salve because of the conscious vibration emitted from a limited belief, depleting emotion, or negative thought pattern. For example, operating from a scarcity mindset, living in fear, or ruminating on I’m never good enough, I am unlovable, I am worth abandoning, etc.
Living here will inevitably keep one stuck.
However, playing along with the notion that identifying with triggers and hurts perpetuates the same cycles that brought the circumstance in the first place, is pointing to a fundamental principle that our focus (energy) directly affects our reality.
Scientifically speaking, frequencies are responsible for a majority of the situations one encounters in life.*
A key factor to consciously creating one's reality is that exact idea: consciously.
To be conscious means to be self-aware. Self-awareness breeds self-regulation and self-control, which ultimately contribute to the ability to access higher brain function.
From a neurological perspective, when a brain has experienced trauma or an arrhythmic reality, the part of the brain responsible for survival forms the most neuropathways and becomes the predominant part of the brain that lights up when it receives sensory input. This part of the brain is the brainstem, to which we contribute fight, flight, freeze, or fawn responses.
What does this mean if our lower regions of the brain are where a majority of our neuropathways lie?
It means as humans, we are reacting to our reality, rather than responding. **
Can we create a sound reality based on fight or flight responses?
Can one jump straight from their baseline nervous system into creating their reality?
Healing is the process of reorganizing and building neuopathways up through the diencephalon (the part of the brain responsible for movement), into the limbic (relational part of the brain), and to the prefrontal cortex (reasoning) to full use of our brain. To achieve this state of full brain access, we must be in a level of coherence, or internal regulation. Then we must maintain that level of coherence as we create.
What is coherence, and what does it look like?
Coherence is the alignment of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.
Coherence feels like calm, joy, presence, neutral, steady. If it helps to think about what incoherence looks like in comparison, coherence is consistent; incoherence is erratic.
Do we have control over this within our own bodies? Yes.
Therefore, the process of healing is not a stagnant state or mentality that keeps us in a holding pattern of obsessive self-analyzing or self-deprecation, but rather an active process that reorganizes our brains, so we can break free and be creators of our own reality.
In combination with cognitive behavioral therapy (thoughts create emotions, which create behaviors, which create our life), coherence techniques, and playing with neuroplasticity, we can reach conscious creation.
Without the fundamental understanding of one's baseline nervous system (awareness of stress levels and how the body responds to pressure, stress, withdrawal of connect, etc), there is little hope for recalibrating a traumatized nervous system into a thriving one. Being able to hold space for the recalibration of reality requires an immense amount of self-awareness and self-control, lest we run back to familiar patterns.
Jumping straight to the “how would I prefer this to be,” without at very least having the somatic awareness to regulate oneself and achieve access to the entire brain, could lead to results that may not be in alignment with personal integrity, rather shaped by oh, I don’t know … the algorithm? or whatever belief systems are most deeply entrenched in the brain.
Secondly, the circumstances that can cause PTSD and CPTSD and other trauma responses, i.g, neglect, death, disease, loss, sexual assault, and verbal abuse, are not class dependent.
The mindset through which healing is approached may contribute to monetary standing, but it is not exclusive. A rich person may be wholly identifying with low vibrational behavior and continue to be rich, a poor person may be emotionally healed and continue to be poor, but what is the margin of measuring the “riches?”
What principles dictate your life?
How do you come by those principles?
Furthermore, to peg the intersection of an argument on the exorbitantly misguided idea that “healing is for the poor” is to re-traumatize, minimize, and weaponize the language with no basic understanding of the concepts discussed. The statements bypass the neurological and somatic repercussions of trauma and demonstrate a lack the nuance of what trauma-informed care is truly about.
With that said, emotional dysregulation and lack of self-control can cause long-term hindrances within the relationship to self and others.
Quality of relationships can be directly linked to 'success.' Interpersonal communication skills may make or break an interview that opens doors or leads to a healthy relationship. Therefore, knowing oneself, one's triggers, identifying the root cause, and then releasing and reorganizing the brain can lead to higher success in any sphere.
One of my mentors, an extremely successful pioneer of the organic food industry reinforced to me that relationships matter. He was able to build and maintain, create and multiply his businesses and his passion projects via the relationships he built along the way. These relationships are built on trust, respect, and mutual understanding, all abstract concepts formed in the prefrontal cortex.
Creation and healing are not mutually exclusive but intrinsically tied together!
Finally, it comes down to the belief system about healing. The post carried a limited belief about the unlimited creating potential that is inherently tied to healing.
A lack of self-understanding means anything can have power over you. If you are reacting to life, you are allowing external circumstances to dictate your internal compass. Without a fundamental deep dive into
who am I,
what do I stand for?
what are my values and beliefs?
what will I compromise on, and
where did I come by these ideas
or sitting with emotions and allowing them to pass like waves in the ocean and simply gathering data,
you are more susceptible to control, manipulation, and domination.
In conclusion, healing is armor. It is not a weak mentality. It is mental fortitude - the body keeps the score, and whether you're rich or poor, generational patterns will find you. Do you really want to be an active creator of your reality? Get comfortable with the uncomfortable, adopt a growth mindset, become solution-oriented, and accept your humanness.
"Know thyself.”
Rene Descartes
"The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing."
Socrates
*With the caveat question, do we attract every situation we encounter, or are there extenuating circumstances to which we cannot accept responsibility?
** Begging a deeper philosophical discussion: free will. Are we exercising free will if we are consciously or unconsciously subjected to recursive reactive patterns?
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