Welcome to Sage Words a Substack worth paying for!
If you lived here, you’d be home now.
I’m really happy you are here.
This is a deeply personal introduction into who I am, what I humbly offer you, what you graciously bestow upon me, and some heartfelt feedback I’ve received from the Substack community.
“[Sage Justice] your voice is fierce, clear, and liberating.
Your truth-telling cracks things open in all the right ways.
I also want to thank you for making your posts accessible to the blind.
As the mother of a blind daughter, that care does not go unnoticed.
It's not just thoughtful-it's necessary.” -
author of Edge of GraceIf you are a human being, no matter your beliefs, I consider you my sibling. That doesn’t mean we will agree on everything or even get along, or that hateful rhetoric will be accepted; but I trust that you can hold on to your liberal beliefs as you pass the Thanksgiving stuffing to a conservative relative (or visa versa). If you, like me, care more about humanity as a whole than “us” versus “them” mentality— you’ve landed in the right spot. There’s no unity in division. If we want peace, we have to find a way to share space and communicate openly and that’s the crux of Sage Words. I welcome you with a seat at the diverse table of my seasoned offerings where I serve a seven course meal of the philosophical international experience of being human:
· Kindness
· Respect
· Wisdom
· Truth
· Solutions
· Courage
· Spirituality
“Thanks for continuing to be a voice for the voiceless.
Your writing is a gift to so many”
–
author of Communicate with MasteryI promise that this substack is worth subscribing to. Honesty and integrity resonate universally regardless of personal differences, and that’s what I aim to offer you here. As Percy Shelley stated, “Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the wold.” Writers and artists have a way of expressing truths that can be used as tools for deeper connections.
“Sage Justice, Your work changes people.
You’re exceptional at what you do.
Your track record proves it.”
-Elizabeth from Substack
I’m grateful you’re here. Thank you! Your subscription is a true gift to a writer in a publishing world where book deals are predicated on having millions of subscribers. I need you. I want you. Please stay. Lol.
“[Sage’s] work is compassionate, powerful,
and unapologetically truthful,
yet never seeks to shame or divide.”
–
poetHi, I’m Sage Justice and I use my words to bring people together. I’ve paid my dues in life and I give back with all my heart. I was born with a strong sense of purpose: to infuse empathy, wisdom, integrity, and humor (whenever possible) into universal challenges, encourage unity in the face of polarization, and inspire resilience of the human spirit.
I neither feel inferior nor superior to anyone and that’s the foundation of my belief system about all people. I believe in oneness and strive to walk through the world with humility in one hand and confidence in the other.
My career as a poet and performing artist began while a child, as a form of survival. I came from two worlds that roughly mirrored our current world at large: one of security with my grandparents and one of chaos with my single mother. I was exposed and influenced by Democrats and Republicans, religion and atheism, privilege and poverty. Instead of joining one side or the other, I chose to be the bridge that made it possible for each side to better understand the other.
My papa, a military man, raised me with the axiom, united we stand, divided we fall. No matter how wrong we perceive the other side to be, to ostracize them deepens the chasm we all have to cross. There is no unity through division. As Gandhi said, “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.”
Attachment to a belief— in one’s grasp of truth— is the primary cause of division. We all suffer from the addiction of certainty. Truth does not change, but our perception of it does, depending on where we stand when viewing it. If we refuse to see the world through someone else’s eyes, we aren’t seeing the the whole world, we’re seeing a narrow, tunnel vision through a peep hole in the door that keeps us believing in the illusion of separation.
The overarching theme of my career has been to use art to create awareness around the meaning of truth. I’ve created 50 global characters, often based on real people, who allow me to stand in the middle to see all sides. That doesn’t mean I fail to take a stance. What may appear at first glance to be a contradiction is often an expression of nuance. I’m not judgemental, but I am opinionated. I will pull memes from both sides of the political spectrum to illustrate human hypocrisy. It’s through learning to laugh at ourselves that we actually begin to take life more seriously and notice the ways in which we are all far more alike than we are different.
Some people will falsely believe that taking time to understand why someone believes the way they do means that I am supporting their beliefs; others take offense to those who seek to understand “the other side” as if doing so is an act of standing against them. Neither of these beliefs are accurate when it comes to my writing. For I know that true unity is born not of what we fight against but rather what we stand for; I stand for the peace that comes from the freedom to live and let live.
As I wrote in the book, FREEDOM, “We are not our beliefs for beliefs can change. We are not worthy because of who we are, but rather that we are.” If I see a human being suffering, I am not going to ask them what their political beliefs are before I offer to help them. I’m going to protect those who need protection and love those who need loving.
I take to heart the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., "Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that” this is from his sermon "Loving Your Enemies;” 1and I pair that quote with one from Robert Jones, Jr. (that is often misattributed to James Baldwin), “We can disagree and still love each other unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression and denial of my humanity and right to exist.” If that, then what do we do? We get curious and we find connections that melt the hate away because believing that we could ever be so different that it would justify a denial of humanity is what’s harming us all. The way I do this work is threefold:
1. I give back. I reach out to at least one stranger a day to be of service in some way, big or small. The less I know about them, the better. My desire is to show unconditional love- not to determine if they are to be idolized or demonized for who they are and what they believe. I expect nothing in return- no thanks, no respect, no appreciation. I am doing this for me and they owe me nothing. (If this were a relationship built on equality- that’s different, I would expect reciprocity. More about that in a video I made about The Giving Tree).
2. I encourage. I write essays, articles, stories, books, plays, memes, and hand written notes of love on what it means to be human.
3. I go public. I carry my experiences to the stage where I show how we heal and transform in real time.
As a performing artist, I take my place on the stage for 30-90 minutes and transform from one character into another, until I’ve told a complete story in which everyone in the audience is likely to have felt represented. As a professional writer, performer (and human), I’ve found that people who feel heard are more willing to hear; and people who feel seen, are more willing to see. The magic of theatre is that it can replace judgment with curiosity and expand the conversation for everyone. In the seats that face the stage, enlightenment can and does occur.
Los Angeles Film and Music Magazine had this to say about my performance:
“She weaves her emotions as deftly as if she were playing on the strings of an Irish harp.
She flits from one character to another with ease and alacrity.
Her sensitivity is exquisite.
As I watched this lovely lady I marveled at her beauty and abilities.
The audience is held spellbound.
She has talent and a great deal of courage.”
HBO contacted me about filming a special around the show. The critics raved, “Remember her name;” but my “exceptional promise” was cut short when my beloved grandmother who raised me took ill, and I decided to take time off to care for the woman who so lovingly cared for me when I was a child.2 Many women have gaps in their careers when they take time off to become caregivers or tend to their own health, and I am no exception. While devoted to my grandmother, I also became a mother and learned to manage a rare genetic disorder that took over 20 years to diagnose. Behind the curtain of every artist on stage is a life filled with quiet struggles and joyous triumphs.
“Sage … I absolutely love the way your writing weaves together themes and stories –
that’s so hard to do the way you do it! Thank you” –
“What I love about Sage … I love that we are both so different and also so alike. I truly love, respect, and admire the human she is. (I love how she sings!) And, gosh, this loving fight!“
-
, author of The Sad Princess and Happy and Sad FunBookHere’s some links to posts that have been embraced by the public. If you like them, please give a heart, leave comment, and send it to a friend. Knowledge works best when shared.:
Mel Robbins, Plagiarism, AI, and the “Let Them Theory” Saga:
Living with chronic health issues
Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome: What’s wrong with her?
Surviving trauma
Interviews
If you’d like to know more about my creative process and future plans, please check out these interviews by wonderful Substack sisters
The Sunshine Blogger Award
Photo Image: A field of sunflowers against a deep yellow sky with a circular banner that reads: “Sunshine Blogger Award.”
No matter who you are or what you believe in, I applaud you for being brave. I leave you with a quote from my (mental) mentor, Noam Chomsky and a valuable lesson I learned as a child (author of the example unknown yet honored) about standing up for what’s right (sent to me with a message by my best buddy of 35 years).
I’ve spent my life challenging parents, teachers, peers, in-laws, and strangers. My greatest strength is also my weakness: honesty. I fight the good fight because I believe love, and the concept of sage justice wins.
If you appreciate this publication, Sage Words, but are unable to afford a subscription, please consider choosing the “Buy Me a Coffee” button when you can. The site takes 40% of whatever you give, making a paid subscription the best bet — but every little bit helps. Thanks!
After I witnessed an unknown poet have her work usurped, I was given the legal advice to place the following © date and statement on all my work: This concept/theory/poem is original to Sage Justice © 2015, 2020, 2025. If you use it, please give credit and link to original work. Thank you. www.SageWords.org
This is a get-to-know-you-better bio…
Sage Justice, is an award-winning playwright, poet, and critically acclaimed performing artist who has appeared on stages from Madison Square Garden in New York City, to The Comedy Store in Hollywood, California. Published author of FREEDOM a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️rated book, humanitarian activist, member of a labor union: SAGAFTRA, and an alumna Artist-In-Residence of Château d'Orquevaux in France. As a sketch comedy writer and improv performer she has a background in irreverent comedy (think George Carlin) that challenges the status quo.
As a writer, Sage contributed an essay in Virgin Territory: Stories from the Road to Womanhood by Cathy Alter (Three Rivers Press, a division of Random House), co-wrote the film L.A. Shake, aka Four Women and an Earthquake Registered WGAw, and has written two solo plays that have been produced, one in Hollywood, California and To Breed or Not To Breed (off Broadway). Her pieces on plagiarism and AI have been quoted in the Guardian, The Cut, Vox, theSkimm’, BestLife Magazine, as well as on various social media outlets, podcasts, and by content creators. Her writing has been featured in The Mighty, BLUNTmoms, Kveller, BettyConfidential, LifeLearning Magazine and other publications including poetry anthologies.
As a humanitarian activist she is part of the artist collective, SoulJourners, who co-founded The Unity Project, which fuses activism with art, to educate and inspire, with a special emphasis on community engagement to follow in Finland’s successful footsteps to end homelessness around the world. Sage has also created proposals that lead to new legislation for a safer world through gun safety laws that protect the second amendment, while protecting innocent people from gun violence. Some of her earliest activism was to hold the unwanted babies in the foster care system so that they wouldn’t die from lack of human contact.
Thank you for being you and shining your light in this world.
Warmly,
Sage Justice
My blessed memory grandmother did not want me to give up my career for her. She lovingly and unselfishly left her home and community to move across the state to make it easier for me to be a full time caregiver while having a career. It wasn’t her fault that I couldn’t do it all. I don’t think most women can. As I tell my daughter (which I read in an old book entitled LIFE 101) “You can have it all, but not all at once.” I do not regret the break in my career. It was an honor to care for her as she had cared for me. Having my daughter was the greatest gift I’ve ever received. I am a better human for having had the opportunity to love so deeply. I am better prepared for the life I’ve always wanted now, than I was back then. Nothing goes unwanted in divine timing.
Thank you for this introduction to you and your work. From your web page I read about your interest in and work toward ending homelessness. I volunteer a few days a week at a day shelter for homeless men where I live. I have written a few pieces about my time there here on Substack. I love my time at the shelter. It is a rich, and enriching, place.
Sage, you challenge the untapped parts of me in a good way. Your words definitely stir something within me. Thank you for how you are showing up in the world fully and wholly you. Very inspiring. The world needs voices like yours!