Welcome to the Steemit community Rachel!

You'll be in good company here with other creatives and the lovers of creativity. It is a lively and engaged community.

For many new people, the voting and points system seems complicated at first. Here is an excellent post and entertaining video about how it all works.
https://steemit.com/steemit/@sethlinson/announcing-steemit-explained-a-new-animated-series

You also earn rewards for resharing (resteem) and commenting. How cool is that? So it pays for you to get involved with other people and their content.

Welcome aboard and full Steem ahead! =)

Leo.