carved from our own desires

lessons about midlife from Georgia O'Keeffe

I’ve been off this week for Thanksgiving, and it took a few days to even find the place where words reside and sit down to write something. The speed of my life lately isn’t leaving much time for reflection, and this week, I’ve been opting for rest and inspiration instead.

A few days ago, I finally made the journey to the Booth Museum to see their exhibit of Georgia O’Keeffe photographs on display through late December. O’Keeffe’s life is always an inspiration to me, and I see something new in her every time I return to her work. This time it was a reminder that there’s always the expected path in front of us, and then alongside that one, carved from our own desires, there’s another way to live.

O’Keeffe in New Mexico in her prime

The exhibit featured rarely seen photos of her time at Ghost Ranch, her home in rural New Mexico, and it focused on her relationship with Juan Hamilton, a man 58 years younger than she was who became her closest friend and confidante in her final years. Her cook, driver, handyman, best friend, and of course many suspected her lover or a man who was only after her money and fame. Though to that she simply said, “All the men artists can have young women, but people think it's shocking that I might have a young man in my life.” He was a ceramics artist, and they learned a lot from one another. She left much of her estate to him when she died, but he relinquished nearly all of it to her family. When Hamilton would worry about the rumors and accusations, she’d tell him, “Oh, for Christ's sake, Juan, what do you care what they think? Just focus on your work.”