Who is dia?
Long answer? A girl who loves deeply and has a calling to empower others and remind them of their divinity. I have always had lots of depth to my spirit, complexity to my thoughts and love to give and spent many of my younger years feeling a sense of shame for it. It made me feel weak and lame as a teen and unfocused and too soft as a young adult. I shrouded my gifts of comprehensive thinking and empathy in a cloak of expressive outfits and self-deprecating humor. This shame and fighting against my design led me to low points and destructive inner narratives telling me that I had nothing to offer and didn't have the motivation, talent, or skills to create a radical and fulfilling life for myself or something bigger to offer the world. It left me debilitated and frozen in survival mode.
I attended my first birth at nineteen years old. I didn't know what the term "doula" meant at that time, but I knew that I felt responsibility on my shoulders to protect and support this person and found myself wishing I knew more. I didn't know where the feeling came from and didn't know what to do with it. I was meek of presence, but I noticed. I noticed the way certain visitors and staff members treated this person due to their income bracket. I noticed when they were touched without consent. I noticed the fear in their eyes. I noticed when they were yelled at to stop pushing because the doctor wasn't present. I noticed the feeling of elation in the room when the baby cried. I noticed the relief in their eyes when it was all over. I noticed that, besides one other nonimmediate family member, I was the only one there.
Life went on, but this experience lived with me and still does to this day. I learned what a doula was a few years later and felt a calling to this work. However, I did not pursue this calling for a few reasons. One, I did not have a birthing experience of my own and, thus, thought that I was inadequate to support. Two, I felt like I was too young to be taken seriously. Three, fear that I would fail to show up for my clients. Four, the root cause for one, two, and three, I hadn't tried to heal and hadn't been a doula to myself, so there was no way that I could offer this careful and deep support to others. I have been on a journey of healing, learning and self-discovery ever since. A journey of shadow-work and becoming. Of discarding false narratives and realizing that my ability to feel and show love is actually a superpower. Something to be shared and not hidden. Something to drive me to be a seeker of knowledge and expansion. Something to ignite the passions of nurture and service. Something that led me back to my calling. A doula.
Short answer? A girl who loves. A doula.
OUR
Name
I was dubbed "dia" at eight years old when my baby brother started talking. He could not say my full first name "Lydia" and shortened it to "dia". Some family members followed suit. Several chose to continue calling me "Lydi didi", but I always preferred "dia".
When I got older and the next generation of family and friends was being born, 'Dia" became my auntie name. When pondering a name to tie to my doula services, my Sister-in-law jokingly said "Dia the Doula" and the name stuck.
and thus, Dia the Doula was born.
