This is using the Substack “First Post” template, so I decided to just be silly and use it as-is.

If you’re interested in subscribing to my blog at Substack, click here.

You can also subscribe to my blog on my blog page here.

1. Why this, why now

I am looking for a place to plant myself and my blog. Instagram is just so big and I feel invisible there and the sheer volume of content on it is honestly overwhelming. I have a website but, because it’s so new and has little viewership, I want to open another channel to connect with others.

2. My foundational ideals

I love nature. Like, I really, really, love nature. I grew up in a small mountain town and spent my time outside – climbing trees, riding my bike, catching lizards and grasshoppers like the wildly free Gen-X kid that I was. I knew, even as a kid, that I connected to nature more than others did. I marveled at the sunbeams shooting down through tree canopies. I listened intently to every bird song and chirp. I inspected every leaf and bark and insect. I smelled the wind and lay in the sun baking my pale skin, loving my time outside more than anything else (especially because my home life was painful).

I’ve felt from a VERY young age that I was born in the wrong era…I was supposed to exist in a time when the world was much wilder and humans much smaller.

I’ve spent my entire adult life (3 decades +) chasing that feeling of oneness with the eternal. I couldn’t have named it as a child, but now I know its name is “joy.”

3. What kind of community I want to build here

The community I want to build is one where I help my reader experience all of this ^, even if only for couple of moments.

4. An image and “subscribe” button

This is a photo of the bed beside my back patio where I like to enjoy my morning tea during the non-scorching months of summer in Texas.

I love the way the morning sun makes the blooms glow and glistens off the droplets on the leaves.

May you go forth with joy, gleaning it wherever you can,

Genevieve