A Letter from our editor
I am a voracious reader, and among the things I consume are women’s magazines — beautiful photographs and stories of beautiful women with beautiful houses living beautiful lives. But in the past few years, I could not shake the sense that there was nothing out there right now for someone like me. So many pages shared some idealized version of my life upstate, and at first glance, it was familiar. Still, the closer I looked, the more I felt that not one single publication spoke to my personal reality — that of a working mother who has made a creative and entrepreneurial life for herself here in the woods. What I saw instead were pages upon pages about how women should be: what we ought to wear, and what we ought to buy to fill our perfect closets, in our perfect homes. It felt somehow hollow, incomplete, even, sometimes, disingenuous. The more women I spoke to about this, the more I heard my observation echoed.
In reality, our lives here in the countryside are not country farmhouse picture-perfect. They can be messy, actually, and full of daily chores and challenges that demand grit, determination, and self-reliance. So it would seem that the clutter of these commercial ideas about the upstate lives we supposedly should be living, the lives we might feel insecure for not living, felt not only outdated but destructive — and the women around me weren’t interested in that. What they were interested in, they told me, is exploring the lives of modern rural women — inspiring women who have traveled the world, or who’ve sought to make it better. Artists, entrepreneurs, activists, mothers: women who have accomplished remarkable goals that we can all reach for, each with their own style, and in their own way. That’s what true aspiration should be about.
The woman I am describing is the Upstate Woman. She is refined yet rugged, confident and complicated, wise, and comfortable in her own skin. She possesses a depth, humor, and courage that stems from a life persevered. She isn’t afraid to be different, nor to think differently, and she sees through the current culture of celebrity worship and consumerism that calls on us to outsource every aspect of our daily lives. As captivating as city life was for her, she is ready to put it behind her so that she can live more conscientiously in her own space, in her own time, and on her own terms. She is a pioneer determined to pursue a simpler life: one grounded in nature, in slowing down, in getting to know herself, in gratitude, and in examining what she’s capable of outside city limits, which, as it turns out, is boundless.
The truth is that there are more of us now than ever. Waves of creatives, professionals, adventurers, and families around the world have found refuge in rural towns and communities throughout the years. And so, this publication is dedicated to all the women who dared to go against the grain. At last, we celebrate you — the real you.
Cheers,
Nhi Mundy
