In an incredibly ironic twist, this newsletter and Born of Wonder generally has received a huge uptick in readership thanks to signing off of social media.1 Maybe you found your way here after reading my essay about why I deleted social media, or maybe you’re a longtime subscriber who found my writing back when it was shared relatively frequently in theology of home newsletters, or maybe you’re a podcast listener who finally got on Substack after I raved about it in the past few episodes, or maybe you’re my sweet family member/friend who is always available to help me talk through ideas, offer comments, edits, and feedback. In any case, for whatever reason you’re reading this right now, I’m so glad you are here! Thank you so much for following along.
I feel a bit of a need (perhaps unnecessary) to briefly introduce myself and my work to new subscribers. So - my name is Katie Marquette - I’m a former public radio producer turned independent podcaster/writer (and mostly full-time wrangler of small children) who loves literature, theology, art, debate, nature, and animals. My writing centers mostly around ‘beauty’ in the various ways we encounter it - through books or the natural world or the liturgy or a glorious cup of black coffee. I converted to Catholicism in 2018 (from atheism/agnosticism) and that also shapes much of what I write about. I’m the mother of two small daughters who are a source of endless delight and exhaustion and are teaching me so much about retaining/rediscovering the wonders of the world. My husband Chris is my best editor and friend and you’ll occasionally hear his guitar playing and voice on the podcast.
Speaking of which, Born of Wonder is a podcast I started as an offshoot from my quarantine era project, On Fairy Stories. On the show we ‘explore anything and everything that inspires wonder and awe in the world.’ If you’re a new listener check out some of my favorite episodes (listed below in the footnote)2 - or browse the archive You have 74 episodes to choose from.
Basically this entire project started because I needed an outlet for my writing and creative projects. When it came to what I wanted that writing/podcasting to be about, I was inspired by a quote attributed to St. Gregory the Great - “We make idols of our concepts but wisdom is born of wonder.”
When I thought about what gave my life meaning, I thought of those moments of awe - those Wordsworthian mountaintop experiences of the sublime - the rough wind racing across the hills of the Scottish Highlands3, candlelit rotate Masses at dawn, out on a horse following hounds at full cry over an intimidating fence, that raw, shocking moment after birth when my babies were put on my chest. Extraordinary experiences. Wonderous experiences. But I also thought about the everyday wonder - a toddler’s laughter, a walk with the dog, the smell of coffee4, a chat with a friend - and I wanted to draw attention to the inherent beauty of those experiences as well.
Basically what it came down to is that even though I love a good debate, loved my college and graduate courses in theology and art, am always seeking the logical explanation… The things that ‘convinced’ me of the value of life, of the purpose of existence, the inherent beauty of being alive… Ultimately of the existence of God - were not “concepts” but “wonder.”
If I have any wisdom it is because of wonder, not reason.
I think we live in a world and a culture starved for beauty, for meaning, for good, deep conversation. That is what I hope to contribute through my writing and podcasting.
I’ll tell you, as much as I love Substack, it’s a bit of a clunky platform. You can’t direct message authors, which I find very problematic, so always feel free to just respond to a post in the comments, or directly. My email is marquettekatie@gmail.com and I really do like to hear from you.
But here’s the great thing about Substack - It’s not addictive (or at least nowhere near as addictive as a social media site) and it truly does reward good, long form writing. That’s a pretty unusual thing these days! You also have the opportunity to support writers directly, whether by subscribing for free and sharing their work, or upgrading to a paid subscription. I’m certainly not making a living here (hey I’d love it if that happened someday!) but some authors definitely are, and that’s pretty amazing. Substack takes out the middleman, lets writers get paid directly by their readers and doesn’t see its’ users as fodder for an ad machine, so three cheers for Substack.
If you’d like to introduce yourself in the comments or share your own Substack, please feel free. I’d love to learn more about you!
Side note - in part to fill the gap during a lighter podcasting/writing summer schedule, I’ve made this post about why you can't appreciate the moment and this Sound Escape audio featuring Mary Oliver free for everyone.
Thank you so much for reading, subscribing, and sharing.
Katie
I should also note for as often as people talk about using Instagram and social media as an essential way to connect with an audience for their creative projects, I have been able to track for quite a while just how few new readers/listeners come from social media. Almost all new subscribers are from direct recommendations (usually not shared on social media, but directly through email etc.) So if you are a creator worried about losing your audience, let me be the reassurance you need that this simply won’t be the case.
Longtime readers will know I am obsessed with Scotland. Perpetually seeking more reasons to wear tartan and have a dram.
Can you tell coffee is incredibly important to me?
I've been thinking a lot about the idea of wonder as it relates to faith and life and creativity a lot recently as well! Particularly (and very relevant to your recent posts about leaving social media) how social media has kind of taken the wonder out of a lot of things for me. Constantly getting bombarded with information can make it really hard to be in awe of the new things we discover, if we feel like there are even new things at all anymore! So... yeah, it's an important idea to contemplate and I'm just looking forward to reading more from you!
-Sincerely, one of those new readers who found you from your leaving Instagram post :)
Another one finding your Substack having read your post on social media here! Ironically, reflexively, I then immediately clicked through to find you on insta! I am, too, thinking deeply about this (and have also gone back and forth in recent years). Beautiful words in your essay. 🙏🏻