psa to diouana women who refuse to live in fear
fear is only inverted faith; it is faith in evil instead of good
i’m told we have a new president. i’m told he’s much more fearsome this time around than last. i’m told the next four years will only bring chaos and destruction. but as i wrote about in my previous essay, i don’t live in fear. so, the narrative the media presents me, in an earnest attempt to inform me, does nothing for me expect show me that i must continue to do what harvard trained me to do: deeply investigate the world around me.
2025 ins and outs
blindly consuming content is out in 2025. blindly believing things simply because you were told them is out in 2025. what’s in this year is intellectual curiosity and the willingness to go deeper than anyone else is willing to go. especially as it relates to hunting down the source material of the stories people tell and the histories they present. being an investigator means getting to the truth. and no one will get to the truth faster than a woman on a mission.
what’s also in this year is faith. not of the religious kind, unless that’s your thing (it certainly is mine), but of the hopeful kind. a level of faith that reminds you to keep going. that no matter the season or circumstance you find yourself in, help is surely on the way. that the beautiful light at the end, the one everyone is so fond of speaking of, will rush towards you as you make your way through the dark tunnel of life.
so keep pushing, ye of much, much faith. for you will be rewarded for your efforts. and as you labor this year doing all the things necessary to achieve your dreams, make sure you document your journey. being your own witness, historian, and archivist will be a hobby you’ll come to appreciate when you’re older and you have a history to reflect on. and wisdom to share. also, it’ll be fun to remember how beautiful you were at this age. how lost. how determined.
let’s meet in february…i’m hosting and you’re invited
it’s official. the diouana woman salon is back. following the format of the first salon, i’ll be taking a “curriculum” based approach. meaning that i’ll create a presentation, lecture if you want to be fancy, that weaves a narrative thread based both off of recent essays i’ve written, notably what you learn being poor at harvard and before the year is over, advocate for yourself, as well as an analysis of the current times we find ourselves in, notably the second trump administration admits a multipolar world. as promised, i’ll also talk about action planning. mainly how to get what you want as a woman. “woman” is the operative word in that sentence because, as i wrote, we have much on our plate that we want, yet so little time to eat it all. so, let’s discuss how to have our cake and eat it too (if we can; and i think we can. in moderation, of course. but more on that in the salon).
the details for the second edition of the diouana woman salon:
platform: the salon will take place on the same zoom-like conference platform i used last time. mainly because it’s free (zoom charges for meetings over 45 minutes) and we can be there allllll day if we like. but i promise i’ll only take an hour of your time. maybe an hour thirty max, but that’s only if people have questions and things they’d like to say. and i certainly hope you do. it’s much more fun to be in discourse than simply present.
date: i’ll host the salon 12p eastern time on saturday, february 1st. also, how fun is it that a saturday falls on the first of the month? there’s such a sweetness to that.
everything else you need to know: the link for the diouana woman salons in 2025, and likely indefinitely, will always stay the same. so save it for future reference. ahead of each one, i’ll always let you know the time and topic. i only ask that you join, if you can, and you bring lots and lots of questions. because discourse trumps me speaking to myself:
dial-in number (US): (605) 313-5820
access code: 8127990#
international dial-in numbers: https://fccdl.in/i/diouanawoman
online meeting id: diouanawoman
join the online meeting: https://join.freeconferencecall.com/diouanawoman
for additional assistance connecting to the meeting text "Call Me" to the dial-in number above and you will be called into the conference. message and data rates may apply.
an update on essay voiceovers and the next essay(s)
in the last diouana woman psa, i sent out a survey asking if the girls would be opposed if i used ai to quickly transcribe my essays into voiceovers so you can listen to the essays wherever doing, quite literally, whatever. and the girls said, “no.”
so, the update there is that i’m working on it. and drinking lots of tea so my voice doesn’t sound hoarse, because quite literally, who wants to hear that?
also, i’m working on two essays, and i don’t know which will get published first: one is on meghan markle and melania trump vs the court of (female) public opinion. my thesis here is the idea that ambition is only appreciated in a “certain” kind of woman (i promise it’s not what you think), and my argument is that women’s perspective on other women is a lot more patriarchal than we let on; and the other is on how the trump administration’s stance on immigration reminds me of the “sans papier” movement that happened in france in the 1990s. my thesis there is that the new game will be paperwork, and my argument is that the game was always paperwork.
more to come!
from tumblr, with love…
i’ve been on tumblr for a very, very, very long time. long enough to appreciate how niche, fringe, and community-oriented it remains. especially in these techo-feudalist, tik-tok-as-brain-rot, podcast bro times we find ourselves in. so that’s why when i receive dms and notes from the girls about my work here on substack, it fills my heart and grows it 10x over.
and more than external validation, or the feeling of feeling beloved, is the knowing that i’m doing something right. something useful. something positive. and most importantly, something worthwhile.
and i hope you know that i labor constantly thinking about how i can better serve you as my readers and fellow diouana women.
so, thank you so much for your sweet words. i love you looooong time.
sweet dreams,
a diouana woman
p.s. if you haven’t read my previous essay yet, read it here: this new year, create your own narrative.1
i will say, i feel that this is the most technically strong essay i’ve written on this platform. meaning i believe it to be well-written. and it has, like, zero likes lol. sleeper hit i fear.