About
You can call me Karen or Kae.
My pronouns are she/her.
I am 23 years old and I grew up well but quicker than I would have liked.
Yet I still have so much living to do.
I am a storyteller, writing to survive
share because I must.
I was born in Kenya and abandoned at birth
only then to be adopted by white Americans.
I do not share this for you to pen me a saviorism story that I won’t claim.
Only so you understand I’m a transnational, transracial adoptee.
I have lived my life torn between childhoods in Kenya and the USA.
I call these countries home and wait for them to want me back fully
for I was born both a Black woman and queer.
But I did not come to tell you about how I experience others' fear.
I’d rather turn my attention to love.
I love playing football.
It is my work in the dark and a star in my sky.
I also love riding horses, drawing, painting, building and creating.
I love cursing & I dislike wearing a lot of clothes
(but I try to limit both of them here).
And I love my 4'11 stature
complete with minimal hair on my head.
Speaking of heads, mine is a mess.
Full of OCD, PTSD, and a tangle of other letters that mean life can be scary hard,
I am learning to keep breathing and appreciate what I can.
While we’re on the topic of mental health
you should know I gave myself a physical disability accidentally
by hurting myself on purpose during a mental health crisis
and I write about it sometimes here.
I’m here in spite of so much.
And I’m also here because I am loved–
belly laughs with friends, gentle conversations over matchas, cuddles with my dog, soft homes to land in, food on my table when I couldn’t put it there myself, stolen kisses, check-in texts, gift boxes full of books, community that witnesses me and doesn’t look away.
I am made up of a million memories that render me incapable of being flattened into one dimension.
I am overflowing with care
given and received.
I would not have it any other way.
I am grateful that people read and hold my work carefully.
I am grateful to be held and loved.
This is me in all that I’m willing to give.
Thank you for being.
All my love,
-K
Standing. Kneeling. Sitting. Crying. Laughing. Screaming. Here.
To everyone who arrives today in this space, I hope that these words of mine allow you to take a break and breathe. We have made it.
On My Bookshelf
I have fallen in love with reading and enjoy telling others what I’m exploring. Below is a small sample of some of what is on my bookshelf now. You can follow more of my reading by following my Storygraph
