georgia (o’keeffe) on my mind by karen karbo

Happy birthday, Georgia O’Keeffe, and happy publication date, Karen Karbo, whose How Georgia Became O’Keeffe: Lessons on the Art of Living comes out today! Karen is the author of two other fascinating biographies — The Gospel According to Coco Chanel and How to Hepburn: Lessons on Living from Kate the Great — and she brings these iconic women to life in a way that is so personal and relevant, you’ll feel like they’ve become your best friends. And if you haven’t read my interview with Karen, go back and meet her here. You will love her!

We are so honored that Karen is sharing this special day with us, and that she’s written an exclusive guest post about what Georgia O’Keeffe can teach us about following our own bliss.

Leave a comment below for a chance to win your own copy of How Georgia Became O’Keeffe.

Georgia O’Keeffe would have turned 124 today, and in addition to our continuing love for her mad, sexy flowers and otherworldly cow skull paintings, we’re still enamored of the way she lived her life. She is still, 25 years after her death, the poster girl for finding your life’s passion and following it to the end.

We’ve always had trouble wrangling our attention spans. But since the advent of the Smart Phone, most of us — by which I mean me — can’t even finish composing email without feeling the overwhelming urge to check Facebook.  People trying to accomplish anything that required sustained attention used to complain that life could be a distraction.  Now, even when nothing much is going on, we distract ourselves.

Obviously, O’Keeffe didn’t share our problems — although she had her own, including surviving measles for which we now have a vaccine, plus endlessly battling the culturally-sanctioned sexism of her times.  Still, we can learn from the good habits she developed that allowed her to follow her bliss.

The Power of Daily


Considering O’Keeffe’s massive output — she created over 2,000 paintings, drawings and sculptures between the ages of 14 and 96 — you would think she worked every day, all day. But Georgia was kind of a slacker.  She would go through phases when she would futz around, read, daydream, write letters, and go for long walks.  But when she worked, she worked every day.

Whether you’re trying to launch a business, write a memoir, paint a mural or sew a quilt, doing it every day reaps beaucoup benefits.  You establish a habit of unplugging, which develops focus, and harnesses that all-important, intangible momentum.  Even if you can only carve out a half hour a day, it will make a huge difference.

The Lost Art of Sublimation

“You can’t always get what you want,” said the poet Jagger.  Despite our current obsession with happiness, that’s as true as it ever was. The good news, though, is that if you’re trying to launch a business, paint a mural, write a memoir, you don’t actually need to be happy.  You can throw yourself into your work.  You can hide in it, in fact.  Sublimation is a powerful thing. It doesn’t matter if you’re frustrated by your job, disappointed by your mate, envious of the slim-assed receptionist at the gym. You don’t need to fix anything.  You can simply start a blog. 

Say Yes to No Frills

Georgia O’Keeffe, 1918, Alfred Stieglitz

You don’t need a new laptop to follow your bliss.  You don’t need to update your software.  You don’t need an iPad.  You don’t need to clean your study. You don’t even need a study.  You don’t need the best hours of the day.  You don’t need big ideas — or any ideas.  You just need to set aside time, and do it.

When O’Keeffe was feeling frustrated with painting, she gave up working with color.  She went back to charcoal — a humble and impossible material — and cheap newsprint.  Late at night, after teaching all day, she got down on her hands and knees, and drew.  She got back to basics.  She didn’t care that she was tired and frustrated.  She worked during the lousiest hours of the day, making the art that would change her life, launch her seven decades-long career, and change the history of art in America.

What’s the bottom line for us? Life was far from perfect for O’Keeffe, but that neither worried her nor inhibited her. Even the most difficult, least likely moments can be put in service of our abiding passions.

This post originally appeared on my former blog, StyleSubstanceSoul.