EXACTLY Why You are on This Earth

The challenge for our online group was to do something about flowers. I had recently done a few pieces about flowers, so I decided to take a different direction. What artist used flowers in a direct way, from a different perspective, with color and life? I thought of Georgia O’Keeffe. She rocked the art world by doing close up images and using fragments from a different perspective. I was touched by her words on this:

I often patented fragments of things
because it seemed to make my statement
as well or better than the whole could.

– Georgia O-Keeffe 1986

O’Keeffe was often described as ‘eccentric’. She painted in her truck in the desert. She eventually removed the doors from her vehicle to increase the airflow and prevent herself from passing out due extreme temperatures. She painted portions of things, graphic and colorful, while everyone else did landscapes and traditional scenes. She chose very deliberately to live different, work different and focus on things from a different perspective. She is considered one of the most inventive artists in history.

Georgia O-Keeffe reminds us that fragments, focusing on things from a certain perspective, choosing to study and work like no one else is not only choosing to be our genuine self, we are choosing to embrace being different. And being different is what will make us become who we were meant to become. It won’t be easy, and many, many people will not understand. There will be struggle, self doubt and even the occasional day when you yourself think you are crazy. The point is not to be different to be different…the point is to be different because your perspective on the world you live in is not the same as everyone around you. You are living differently because you see things others do not.

How do you survive being different? You find others who are also different and let them be your supporters and cheerleaders…not so you can all end up being just alike…because they too are embracing their differences. Everyone needs support, no matter how different or similar they are to other people. Someone to listen, someone to cheer you on to be your best self, AND someone to help you feel you are not alone. People need other people no matter how similar or different they may be to each other.

So next time you are feeling different than those in the office meeting, at the PTA, at the clubhouse or in your neighborhood…think of Georgia O’Keeffe. Being different is not a bad thing, it means you have chosen to embrace your life with courage and individuality. NEVER let anyone put you in a box or tell you to be more normal. What’s the fun and challenge in being like everyone else, anyone can do that!?! Be your genuine self and embrace how you see the world…it may be EXACTLY why you are on this earth!