In love with love letters

​As often happens, I fall down a rabbit hole of research and find myself in the most amazing places. I am currently deep, deep, deep in the 800+ page book of love letters between artist Georgia O'Keeffe and photograher/gallerist Alfred Stieglitz. Holy cow, those two know how to woo!

Fortunately, I knew very little about their relationships. Unfortunately, I've since googled a bit too much and know we're headed for quite a rollercoaster ride. But, either way, their letters are so engaging -the ride is thrilling!

Thinking about love letters, I came across the article: "How to Write a Love Letter, According to Experts."  At first, I wanted to hate this article. What gall to think you can tell someone how to write a love letter! What a presumption to claim to be a love expert!?! Either you got it or you don't. Right? Well... I read on and actually agreed with all the advice (things like be authentic, focus on specifics and go deep, use your voice, etc.). But the jury is still out if these tips can aid the lovers' search for expression.

​The Stieglitz/O'Keeffe letters are amazing (and only a portion of the total collection). Beyond being aesthetically stunning (what else would you expect from those two) - including O'Keeffe's right alignment and swirly lines, and Stieglitz's perfectly thick script and unparalleled openness - these two perfected epistolary hotness. They were suggestive but not crude, tantalizing as they built to a crescendo, and both quite specific about what they admired in one another and how each completed the other.

O’Keeffe once asked Stieglitz to not “write me those letters that always knock me down.” She goes on to say that Alfred puts “so much of himself into those letters” that she can hardly stand it. They are like “too much light- you shut your eyes and put one hand over them and then feel round with the other hand for something to steady yourself by.”

​What a treasure that we still have these letters for all to read, enjoy, and be in awe of. I cannot get enough so it's a good thing there are thousands of these odes to comb through!