Rae 🦋
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raehrpalmer.bsky.social
Rae 🦋
@raehrpalmer.bsky.social
200 followers 170 following 200 posts
Contemporary writer living in Berlin. Plant lover and cat mother who uses poetry and short stories to reflect on the dysfunction of my upbringing.
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raehrpalmer.bsky.social
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 guilt trap: When 'fun' starts to mean 'self-worth'.
July 30, 2025 at 8:46 AM
raehrpalmer.bsky.social
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
The Trauma Grief Process: On the feelings you will encounter as you heal
July 23, 2025 at 8:20 AM
raehrpalmer.bsky.social
I just love hanging out with my best friend 🐾
An adorable black cat sat on a pink bedspread, looking up at the sky
July 16, 2025 at 10:51 AM
raehrpalmer.bsky.social
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
You are entitled to your grief: On the other feelings that grieving can bring up.
July 16, 2025 at 9:31 AM
raehrpalmer.bsky.social
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 image of a leaf that is half sun exposed
July 10, 2025 at 8:25 AM
raehrpalmer.bsky.social
I thought I longed for summer, but now it's here, I realise I'm longing for a summer I already experienced.

#microverse #microtography
Microscopic photograph of a green plant that looks like underwater moss
July 8, 2025 at 8:15 AM
raehrpalmer.bsky.social
nature is beautiful. nature is terrifying. nature is our teacher, our pupil, our mother, and our friend. nature is everything.

#microverse #microtography
Microscopic image of light tree bark.
June 5, 2025 at 6:55 AM
raehrpalmer.bsky.social
Each day, the sun takes longer to say goodnight. And each night, the moon has limited time to say hello. This usually makes me happy, but recently I find myself fearfully counting down the days until summer is over, though it hasn't even begun yet.

#microverse #microtography
Microscopic photo of a canvas with orange and yellow paint.
June 3, 2025 at 7:30 AM
raehrpalmer.bsky.social
Oh, to be a fairy having a peaceful snooze lying on a tree leaf.

#microverse #microtography
Microscopic image of a leaf that looks like an underwater plant
May 12, 2025 at 8:51 AM
raehrpalmer.bsky.social
The trees are so green, the flowers are bursting from their buds, and the birds have flown back north.

Spring is here, and I am so excited for it.

#microverse #microtography
Microscopic, blurry image of green
April 24, 2025 at 9:02 AM
raehrpalmer.bsky.social
Life has swept me up at the moment. But I know I can ride this wave, just like every other.

#microverse #microtography
Microscopic image of a green leaf, with different shades of green
April 23, 2025 at 6:55 AM
raehrpalmer.bsky.social
There will always be light hiding in the darkness, my love. All you need to do is take a deep breath, pause, and allow your eyes to adjust.

#microverse #microtography
Photo of a bright white light surrounded by dimmer orange light with a black background
April 14, 2025 at 7:55 AM
raehrpalmer.bsky.social
don't ever let anyone tell you pink is less because it's a 'girly' colour. pink is the colour of love, compassion, nurturing. pink is the colour of the spring blossoms, bringing the promise of new life. pink is unity. pink is strength. don't ever let them tell you otherwise.
April 8, 2025 at 8:15 AM
raehrpalmer.bsky.social
only the waters know what it means to be battered to and fro

#microverse #microtography
Microscopic photograph of a canvas painting
April 2, 2025 at 10:01 AM
raehrpalmer.bsky.social
Hold yourself close. Let your love bloom in your chest and radiate out into your skin. Don't hide yourself away. Protect yourself by loving yourself. The world is a scary place, I know. But self-love may just set you free.

#microverse #microtography
Microscopic image of a red plant bulb with the same texture as the paw of a cat.
March 26, 2025 at 10:02 AM
raehrpalmer.bsky.social
spring is finally here, and it is oh-so-beautiful. and yet, rather than beginnings, my mind is focused on endings.

but that's okay.

all things have to end.

#microverse #microtography
Microscopic photograph of a green plant that looks like new spring shoots
March 25, 2025 at 9:15 AM
raehrpalmer.bsky.social
It doesn't serve us to wish we could change our past. The reality is that we couldn't even if we tried. We can't beat ourselves up for the people we were and the decisions we made when we didn't know any better. All we can do is forgive ourselves and have compassion for ourselves.
I still find myself prone to judgement for the way I used to be I spend hours in my head wishing I had been less awkward, less quiet, less strange Now everything is tainted by these useless aspirations My current days are wasted stuck in years long gone wishing I had been different
March 20, 2025 at 8:30 AM
raehrpalmer.bsky.social
after Nikita Gill's 'Heroes'

We all deserve to be our own heroes.

#poem #poetry #poet #healing #hope #heroes #selflove #nature #beauty #writersofbluesky #poetsofbluesky
There comes a time when we must learn to greet each day by choosing ourselves over the trepidation of our past If we lose ourselves to the pain and the fear that our trauma insists we hold then we will never truly appreciate the sun shining down on the wispy branches that reach to kiss the infinite blue sky stretching out above us. We will struggle to hear the woodpecker as it feasts on the bugs of the pine tree bark or the song that travels across the whispering wind. And if we cannot find the beauty in the small things that surround us how will we ever truly appreciate the beauty that lives inside of us?
March 19, 2025 at 9:45 AM
raehrpalmer.bsky.social
Eat the fruit of life, my love. Swallow the down the sugar and make your existence all the more sweeter.

#microverse #microtography
Microscopic picture that resembles an orange
March 18, 2025 at 9:15 AM
raehrpalmer.bsky.social
'Jinx, touch wood' I whisper to myself, every day, as I put in the work to make my life change.

#microverse #microtography
Microscopic image of wood
March 17, 2025 at 10:00 AM
raehrpalmer.bsky.social
I love living in Berlin, but I miss a good cold, windy English beach. I miss leaving footprints in the sand and staring longingly out to the tide that sits, miles away, on the horizon.

#microverse #microtography
Microscopic image of some sand, creating the effect of glass
March 13, 2025 at 9:30 AM
raehrpalmer.bsky.social
an old ode to the man the world would have me call father. we don't deserve to hold shame and guilt that does not belong to us. we don't deserve to be punished for their actions. we do deserve love and compassion. we do deserve to heal.

#poem #poetry #poet #generation #trauma #curse #healing
I keep finding myself trapped inside memories screaming ‘get off me’ to empty rooms feeling arms wrapped around me knowing they belong to you all my youth, wasted believing it was my guilt that it was on me to break the mould that you built and set us all free my life, my light all trapped in your hold restrained by your sin the discourse of this ‘generational curse’ is getting old
March 12, 2025 at 10:00 AM
raehrpalmer.bsky.social
Over winter I had to spend some time nursing a knee #injury. Being injured is hard enough, but it can come with extra stress when you have #PTSD.

How do we cope when our body and our #mind aren’t on the same page?

Read all about it here: buff.ly/fYU1uvo

#substack
Bedbound in Winter: Wehn your mind and your body refuse to get on the same page. raehrpalmer.substack.com
March 11, 2025 at 10:42 AM
raehrpalmer.bsky.social
The first spring flowers are emerging from the ground as I am emerging from my cocoon. I am so excited for the endless days of summer.

#microverse #microtography
Microscopic image of a cactus. Green cactus flesh speckled with orange, with an out-of-focus catcus flower on the left side.
March 10, 2025 at 9:00 AM
raehrpalmer.bsky.social
trees without their leaves frost covering the still ground warm tea in my hands cold easy blowing wind the birds continue their song as bears hibernate
March 5, 2025 at 9:30 AM