A group, a podcast, and some new launches!
Hello ji,
I have been down with a bad case of the flu this week.
Not The Flu, thankfully.
Got my negative test results just yesterday, and the entire fam was like…
So, please forgive me for not writing a new issue this week.
I still wanted to pop by your inbox and share some (hopefully) exciting updates for the Womaning community – especially for the sweethearts who have told me you wait for these Friday emails. And for those absolute stars who start texting me around 8pm to check where their weekly Womaning dose is at!
Womaning on Discord
So many of you text/email me after each post to share your own stories related to the issue I have covered that week. Or even something I wrote weeks ago, which you just stumbled upon. (My favourite is women sending me photos of their undrunk cups of chai-coffee because #MentalLoad!)
Several people have recommended a WhatsApp group for the Womaning community before. But given the group member limitation on WhatsApp, I don’t think it will take longer than a day for that cup to runneth over.
So after much deliberation and feet-dragging, I am ecstatic to open the doors to a Womaning server on Discord.
If words like “server” scare you into thinking this is some extra-terrestrial app that you would not know how to deal with, you are just like me.
So for those of you who are new to Discord, here is a quick video to take you through how it broadly works. (Though if you want to skip the video, I promise you it is nothing you can’t simply learn by doing as well. My basic familiarity with WhatsApp sailed me through my first Discord community as well, so no reason it won’t work for you too.)https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/TJ13BA3-NR4?rel=0&autoplay=0&showinfo=0&enablejsapi=0
One definite plus point of a Discord community is that you don’t need to necessarily download the app on your phone to join it. You can just head on to discord.com on your browser and start there to dip your feet in.
Womaning on Mentza and a Womaning Podcast!
Starting this week, I will be live on Mentza every Wednesday at 8pm, for a quick half hour chat on all things Womaning. If you would like to join the conversation live, please download the Mentza app (here are the links for Android and Apple users).
Here is a glimpse of our conversation from last Wednesday:mentzacirclesA post shared by Mentza (@mentzacircles)
I have also been thinking of starting a Womaning podcast for some time now.
I struggled quite a bit with recording readouts of the newsletters for the podcast. But there were two problems with that – One, stories by various women read out in one woman’s voice was just not working for me as a listener. And two, I hate the sound of my own voice, droning on for 20-30minutes so I see no reason why anyone else might like it (#ImposterSyndrome).
Thankfully, the Mentza team is being kind enough to share the full-length audio files of our conversations every week – which I plan to convert into the Womaning podcast.
Coming soon to a podcast app near you.
With the advantage that any of you could feature in this podcast by just logging into the live Mentza conversation on any Wednesday.
For my special Coffee Peeps ❤️
And finally, while I love everyone who has ever read and written kind words to me about Womaning, there is a special place in Womaning heaven for those who have bought me coffees. Sharing below some of the lovely messages that came with some of the recent coffees on my page:
“A colleague went through this few years ago and I didn’t know what to say at the time due to the culture of silence. i wish i knew how to help then. thank you for writing this series.” (After the MTP piece last week)
“Loving your newsletter – it’s something I look forward to reading every week. Thank you for all that you do – it’s important and challenging work.”
“Very much enjoy your perspective, insights, analysis and writing. Appreciate the shift in perspective and resultant brain expansion your articles have been causing!”
For the “nice neighbourhood” issue… very disturbing but very necessary. (The nice neighbourhood piece was about domestic abuse)
“You are going to get acidity from all the coffee you will be drinking! Keep the good work going. This one resonated so much with me – to travel professionally and as invisibly as possible, to attract no attention except for certified decent peoples, to cover all bases ( literally) for an unforeseen eventuality – what a pity. The absence of a negative is not a positive!” (For the piece on women’s safety in public spaces)
Beyond grateful for all the acidity, I am going to be on the lookout for a little something additional for all my Coffee peeps on all of these platforms. Perhaps a little AMA (Ask Me Anything) on the discord server? Or a special entry as guests on the Mentza conversations?
Got any other ideas for growing the Womaning community on these platforms? Please reply to this email, or drop me a message on any of the social media platforms linked at the bottom of this newsletter.
Ultimately, all of Womaning – much like the woman behind it – is a work in progress.
Love and sneezes,
Mahima
This newsletter comes to you free of cost. But that does not mean that it costs nothing.
If you appreciate the work I am doing with Womaning, show me your love by buying me a coffee.
You can find Womaning in India on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Mahima Vashisht 
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