Just chasing authenticity and imperfection in a world full of perfectly curated artificial intelligence.

You’ll never have it all figured out, and as soon as you figure that out, life doesn’t get easier, but it absolutely becomes less chaotic by far. Controlling everything like a game of The Sims 4 is impossible. If I weren’t a writer, I don’t think that I would be able to carry the chaos. 37 is calm, 37 is clarity, 37 is learning, and 37 is creative. It’s only creative because of the increase in chaos.

At some point, I gave up on allowing my environment to affect my stillness as that’s my no way to protect my nervous system. I hold myself accountable most of the time, and I’m comfortable with my circle of friends, who I trust that they always keep me stable when I waver.

It’s almost scary being so calm when the world is crumbling around us. This fourth poetry book absolutely helped with that. It’s like, I write the book, hoard the book, publish it, and then it lightens whatever chaos that I’m carrying.

I write because, like sorting laundry, it helps me sort my thoughts. Black Girl, Blue Skies closes a chapter that I’ve been trying to sort for some time. It’s a love letter that 24-year-old me wrote when I wrote some of those poems.

I don’t know what the fifth poetry book will be or what it will even look like, but I’m excited. I love love, criticizing the current state of the world, and sharing my journey so far.

One book that I’m excited about writing one day is my journey while I was mayor during a global pandemic. At age 29, I got to oversee a police department and work a full-time job in healthcare IT. I’ve been wrapping my head around it for a bit, and it’s a great time to reflect on it.

Black Girl, Blue Skies feels like the prelude to that. It feels like one day inside me was all, “land the plane Chardae’.” And I finally did it. Now I can move on to my next project and sort more words. Maybe that’s what this blog is. Helping me sort said words for the next book. I’m going to rework the intro to Confessions of an Ex-Millennial Mayor and post it as my next post. I’m leaning into authenticity and working out this book via my blog. Strap in and enjoy the journey.

I don’t know what happened in my 30s, but I’m comfortable, educated, I know my price, and I know how to navigate walking away when offered less. ✌🏿 🌎 ❤️ – Justdae

Read my books.