A Proper Introduction
The Who, Why, and How of The Beauty of Simple Things
Hello everyone!
It’s been a few months since I finally bit the bullet and kicked off The Beauty of Simple Things. In that time, I’ve started writing routinely for the public for the first time ever.1 These months have been a time of incredible discovery, as I test my hand at different kinds of writing, navigate the Substack platform, and stumble across many other writers who like me, believe in the beauty of simple things.
My readers and subscribers have been slowly growing from my first shameless import of emails belonging to close friends and family, to people I’ve never met, spread across continents. So, it feels natural that now is the time for a proper introduction, where I can share a little backstory on who I am, how I got here, why I hope to stay, and where I hope to take this little newsletter.
So, hello! My name is Rachel. I love God, philosophy, community, nature, farming, education, and literature. I currently live in the Shenandoah Valley, though I was born and raised in Michigan. I have a degree in English Language and Literature, but I work as a software tester. Ever since I was an opinionated preteen, I’ve been going on soap box rants about technology, so yes, this career choice is a great mystery to me.
If I’d taken two years of Latin in college, instead of French, I’m pretty sure I would have majored in philosophy. I talk about Aristotle, Leibniz, Descartes and Thomism far more than Wordsworth, Shakespeare, or even Chekhov, who I wrote my thesis on.
I am infinitely blessed to have been homeschooled and to have grown up on a small farm, where my particular tasks were taking care of the laying chickens and milking our quirky Nubian goats. Unfortunately, I do not have a farm of my own at the moment, but it is the goal.
Though metaphysics has cast its spell on me, reading and writing have always been a part of my life. Both of my parents taught me the value of owning books, reading them, and writing. My father has worked as an editor, and my mother as an English teacher. The formative years of my childhood consisted of weekly trips on Saturdays to all the thrift stores around, hunting for books to fill our library. The habit of constantly gathering books has continued throughout my life, and I don’t plan on ever giving it up. While I may have more books than I can ever read, I surely don’t have enough.
My first “writing” experience was the journal that I dictated to my father at bedtime, before I could write on my own. For much of my childhood, my journals were simply records of my day, detailing eating french toast for lunch, or swimming at my friend’s house. These days, anything that comes to mind is a candidate for my journal: to do lists, poetry, musings on life, outlines for articles, budgets, brainstorms, and yes, occasional emotional outbursts and pent-up angst. I’ve continued journaling throughout my entire life, and as I’ve grown older my journals have become more and more meaningful to me. There’s nothing quite like seeing how you’ve changed as you read the various thoughts that have come to mind over the past 20 some years.
As I’ve mentioned in many posts, I began my first newsletter, “Rachel’s News,” when I was eleven. I typed it on our ancient computer, fought with many printers to get it printed, and then snail mailed copies to relatives. Ever since college, I’ve flirted with the idea of restarting “Rachel’s News” in some capacity. In college, I wrote a few articles and poems for the student publication, and post grad, I’ve had one poem published in the St. Austin Review. But other than that, my public voice has been confined to the many ramblings and unofficial lectures I share with my family, friends, and coworkers, whether they listen or not.
Over time, I’ve kept hearing the comment, “You should start a blog,” or “You should do a podcast,” or “This would be a great article for X, Y, or Z periodical.” Lately, it’s been more and more frequent. Earlier this year, some of my brother’s friends finally said, “You should start a Substack,” to which I probably just stared blankly at them in confusion. Though I’d read some articles which were published on Substack by various acquaintances, I had no idea that Substack was… well Substack. However, the suggestion stuck, and eventually one day I created an account, poked about, and began considering the endeavor.
Finally, a few weeks later, I took the jump, and published a reflection I’d been sitting on for years, always thinking that one day I would share it with the world at large. It’s called Breaking Bread with Everyman and details an experience I had while working at a winery one day. From there, I started posting all sorts of things that I’d been mulling over for years.
What I loved about Rachel’s News was that there was no particular niche I was trying to fill. I simply wrote about the things I loved. I’m not sure yet whether I’m trying to fill a niche here or not. You see, I love finding the analytics page of any platform that I use (just ask any of my coworkers who sends the most Slack messages each month… hint, hint, it’s not a competition, but I’ve been at the top recently). Now, as my fellow Substack writers well know, Substack has some super helpful and addictive charts and analytics that can give me an idea of what readers enjoy, and what they seem apathetic towards. With this knowledge under my belt, it can be hard at times to simply write about things I love. The temptation is to wring myself out attempting to write something that everyone will want to read. I’m still unsure what my tone should be, or whether I want to be inflammatory at times, or simply wax poetic. Should I compare software testing to hosting parties? Maybe not on a Substack otherwise dedicated to rants against technology and reflections on God’s love for us.
If you’re new to The Beauty of Simple Things, perhaps you are wondering what this Substack can give you, as compared to all the others out there. I cannot promise what it will give, but I can promise that it will never give anything but “Rachel’s News.” These are the musings of Rachel, the girl who loves God, nature, and thinking deeply about everything around me. Everything I encounter is part of a treasure map leading back to our Creator, and thus, everything I encounter may eventually make it to your inbox. Perhaps one day I will hone in on something more niche. We shall see.
My only hope is that somehow, in the midst of my ramblings, there might be one thing that strikes a chord with you and makes you pause for a moment and look ahead, at the final destination: our Heavenly Home. There, I believe all will be simply beautiful and beautifully simple: we will know Love, and Love will call us closer. Further up, and further in.
Okay, I’ll fully admit, those beginning sentences are as good of evidence as any that I am a practicing Catholic, and frequently avail myself of the Sacrament of Confession.
I would have guessed that picture evoked Beatryce and Answellica. With a promise that it really happened--or would someday.