The Architecture of Self-Governanc

A Call to Self-Governance

for a World at Peace

Diana Vazquez-Douglas
Author · Governance Strategist · Commercial Banking & Real Estate Background · Steward of the Middle Way

I was born in Germany in 1964 to a Puerto Rican father who served in the U.S. Army and is a Vietnam veteran, and an Austrian mother shaped by post-war Europe. Raised as a military dependent on foreign soil, I learned early that identity, power, and belonging are not theoretical concepts—they are lived realities shaped by leadership, systems, and history.

My life and career have moved between worlds that rarely speak to one another: finance and faith, markets and morality, leadership and service.

I hold a degree in Finance and Business Administration from the University of Florida. My professional background spans commercial banking, multi-family affordable housing lending through a nonprofit bank consortium, and new home sales during periods of rapid growth and speculation. I maintain an active real estate license and continue to work within housing markets that reflect both opportunity and strain.

I have worked inside systems that allocate capital, shape communities, and reward performance—and I have seen how easily purpose is eclipsed by profit when ego goes unchecked.

Over time—through business, housing, family life, and public engagement—one truth became unavoidable:

Leadership without self-governance erodes trust.
Markets without moral discipline distort communities.
And systems without maturity eventually fracture.

The work now is not partisan.
It is architectural.

A Voice for the Middle Way

The Middle Way Movement is not a party, a brand, or an ideology. It is a call back to balance—rooted in discernment, emotional intelligence, gratitude, and servant leadership.

I write and speak from the breach: the space between extremes, where clarity still matters and humility is not mistaken for weakness. This work draws on ancient wisdom traditions, lived experience inside modern systems, and a conviction that leadership without restraint ultimately harms the very people it claims to serve.

When broken people run systems, the systems break. Healing requires more than reform. It requires maturity.

Blueprints for Balance

My books and Letters from the Breach are not commentary. They are blueprints for balance.

They examine how unexamined ego, fear-driven craving, and moral certainty distort leadership in families, institutions, markets, and nations—and how wisdom, accountability, restraint, and gratitude restore what has been lost.

This is not soft work.
It is necessary work.

Make America Grateful Again

Gratitude is not weakness. It is discipline.

It is stewardship of what we have been given—time, talent, resources, institutions, and one another.

Gratitude grounds love in action.
And service is love made visible.

Practice the Middle Way

Where truth becomes leadership.
Where healing becomes strength.
Where restraint becomes power.

Peace is not passive.
It is practiced.

Leadership is not spectacle.
It is self-governance lived consistently, especially when no one is watching.

The future will belong to women and men who understand that authority begins within —
and that service is the highest expression of strength.

This is the work of self-governance.
This is the work of the Middle Way.

Through story, haiku, and humor, these books chart the difficult middle path—where awareness replaces blame, restraint becomes strength, and self-governance restores what fear has fractured.

Books by Diana

Coming in 2026

DIANA: Dancing with Dragons
A Book of Fire, Faith, and the Repair of Broken Systems

DIANA: Dancing with Dragons is a systems reconstruction book grounded in lived experience.

Through short stories drawn from family, faith, finance, healthcare, education, and governance, Diana traces how fear migrates — from the inner life to the family, and from the family into institutions.

What begins as silence becomes policy.
What begins as unexamined pain becomes ideology.
What begins as insecurity becomes domination.

Each system examined in this book was originally built for protection and human flourishing. Yet across sectors — healthcare, education, justice, governance, banking, media — avoidance of accountability has replaced repair.

This is not a manifesto.

It is an inquiry into structural integrity.

Dancing with Dragons asks:

• What happens when sensitivity is mislabeled as instability?

• How does tribal loyalty override truth?

• Why do leaders double down instead of apologize?

• What would moral maturity look like at scale?

• Can apology function as governance rather than weakness?

This book does not call for burning institutions down.

It calls for rebuilding them from the inside out.

It names the dragons — without worshiping them.

Mom in the Middle: The Barkside Chronicles

A galactic tug-of-war between chaos and calm, starring a strong-willed mom and her two furry forces of nature—Bark Vader and Princess Kittya.

Star Wars meets suburban realness—with a tail-wagging twist.

Written with humor and heart, this lighthearted chronicle explores discipline, love, frustration, and grace—for humans navigating the mess, the mischief, and the Middle Way.

Little F’ers Everywhere: A Haiku Reckoning

A sharp, humorous haiku collection about the small habits that cause big trouble—in ourselves, our relationships, and the world.

These poems aren’t about villains.
They’re about patterns.

Ego.
Avoidance.
Resentment.
Certainty.

Written with wit and restraint, Little F’ers Everywhere invites recognition without shame—and reminds us that awareness is often the first act of service.

📚 Now Available

Sacred Silhouettes: Haiku for the Heart and Mind

Seventeen syllables at a time, this collection speaks to grief, resilience, and the sacred path to wholeness—a quiet companion to the Middle Way Movement. Each Haiku is accompanied by a short reflection or writing prompt.

Available at https://www.sunshinebookco.com an independent Florida bookstore

Mom in the Middle: The Middle Way is Paved with Paw Prints

A whimsical tale of love, barking, and balance.
A playful, poetic journey through everyday life—where laughter, love, and life lessons come wrapped in fur and wagging tails.
Find grace in the mess, purpose in the noise, and joy in the middle of it all.

Available at https://www.sunshinebookco.com an independent Florida bookstore

Unhinged, Uncaged, Unstoppable: A Haiku Awakening

A bipolar journey in seventeen syllables.

From the years before diagnosis in 2002 to a grounded present, this collection chronicles mania, depression, spiritual searching, and the disciplined return to balance.

Sharp. Unfiltered. Precise.

Each haiku transforms emotional volatility into clarity—revealing that true freedom is not the absence of limits, but the mastery of them.

A rebellion not against the world—
but against unconsciousness.

📚 View all books on Amazon: amazon.com/author/dianavazquezdouglas

All titles are published through Middle Way Press, an imprint of Diana Vazquez-Douglas, LLC devoted to truth, balance, and creative freedom.