Rae 🦋

Me, too. I'll keep you in my thoughts ❤️

There was so much more I could do with the word measure, but my brain is completely in its own way. Such a shame. I hope we both feel better soon

Not every poem has to be a winner, folks x

Right now, it seems that no matter
how hard I try, I never can quite get
it right. No matter what I say or do,
it will never be enough for you.

I know I'll never make you see
who I am, and that we'll never agree,
still I'll #measure my self-worth
only on what you think of me.

#vss365

Read every word & share with everyone you know. This is real life here in Chicago. Americans need to know this grotesque reality & stand with us.

lose yourself in words
because it is much easier
to fight your way out
of the fictional world

than it is to recover
from losing yourself
to your own mind

(2/2)

#vss365

lose yourself in #literature
let the words unfurl
into your whole being;
messages of hope
and comfort, spreading
from one brain to another

lose yourself in stories
let the ebb and flow of
the protagonists' adventure
lull you into a half-awake
peaceful slumber of content

(1/2)

#vss365

I was never made
for the #deluxe
a life of luxury
never interested me

instead, I'll be found
led beneath the trees
leaves in my hair and
mud slicked on my cheeks

I've always found the price
of extravagance to be far
too dear; never has nature
asked too much of me

#vss365

memories
of you
stick
like the
sap
crawling
through
my veins
subduing
the blood
as it desperately
tries to push
through your
#undertone
that somehow
manages to
soil every
single
thing
that ever
brought me joy

#vss365

what do I gotta do to be one of them frogs chilling under a toadstool

#libertine:
'a person, especially a man
who freely indulges in
sensual pleasures
without regard
to moral principle'

I always found the use
of the word 'man' curious
it had been my experience
that the women I met
had filled me with much
more liberation
than any man could dream of

#vss365

set me alight
reduce me to #ash
tell me you’re nothing
without me

punish me as often
as you believe you can
tell yourself that
you don’t think about me

just never forget
I held you as you cried

and I’ve seen exactly
what you are inside

#vss365

I tried so hard
not to #clash with you
but just as naturally as
a wave smacking the cliffside
our stubborn walls collided
we couldn't see the sun
for the clouds, instead
we watched it all
come crashing down

#vss365

it is a day to be celebrated
the day you finally #associate love
with safety, warmth, and caring
rather than defiance, sadness, and fear

when that day comes
we should celebrate you
because you got yourself here
as close to 'the other side'
as it is possible to be

#vss365

I just adore how the wind whipping through the forest trees outside my bedroom window mimics the sound of waves crashing against the shore.

I used to write for the right reasons, but I think I've been losing that recently.

As a result, I've stopped writing.

How do you reclaim the reasons you started writing? How do you quiet down the noise of everything else?

I miss it, but I just can't find the energy to do it.

The guilt trap: When 'fun' starts to mean 'self-worth'.

The guilt trap: When 'fun' starts to mean 'self worth'.

'Because the truth is that trauma is not linear. I know we hear it and we say it all the time, but we need to start believing it. I need to start believing it.'

Read it here: buff.ly/BTwLe3G

The Trauma Grief Process: On the feelings you will encounter as you heal

The Trauma Grief Process: On the feelings you will encounter as you heal.

Different types of grief come when you're healing from trauma, and they're all joined by the usual five stages. But then there are the extra stages.

Read all about them here: buff.ly/bDXFJcq

#substack #essay #trauma #recovery #ptsd #grief #guilt

An adorable black cat sat on a pink bedspread, looking up at the sky

I just love hanging out with my best friend 🐾

You are entitled to your grief: On the other feelings that grieving can bring up.

You are entitled to your grief: On the other feelings that grieving can bring up.

A reflection on the emotions that come from bereavement in a dysfunctional family.

Read it here: buff.ly/IKSpcdl

if trauma was a career field
I'd surely be a #savant
I can expertly read into
every muscle twitch
every despondent sigh
every single movement
to see if you're mad at me
and if there is a trigger looming
I'll greet it like an old friend
but trauma isn't a career
so I'll fix myself instead

#vss365

Microscopic image of a leaf that is half sun exposed

We've entered the time of the year where I spend 85% of my time squinting against the sun and double-checking I've actually put my sunglasses on. What a time to live.

#microverse #microtography

Microscopic photograph of a green plant that looks like underwater moss

I thought I longed for summer, but now it's here, I realise I'm longing for a summer I already experienced.

#microverse #microtography

I try to be tender to myself
to radiate compassion through my bones
the way I would for someone else
when I remember how you taught me
to love someone is to feel like a #boxer
losing my most important match
cowering in the corner
needing to escape
yet knowing that
I never could

#vss365

The irony of it all was my #hamartia was obscure Greek words.
#vss365

You deserve a break. Stop healing. Choose violence. go batshit insane. do it for the plot.

mood.

why did this make me laugh

I always thought
my Achilles #heel
was that I was too
sensitive, too emotional,
too much and yet
not enough.

Now I know
my true weakness
was opening my heart
to those who did not promise
not to break it, but expecting
that they wouldn't anyway.

#vss365

I never felt at home
in the place I was born
it never made me feel safe
or warm or comfortable
I could never revel in the fact
I knew every street like the
back of my hand; it made my skin
feel it was stretched too tight
so, like the #patriot I am,
I fled to find a life elsewhere.

#vss365