You know that feeling when your eyes really open up to a place and something awakens inside you? Like your heart? And it says:
“This is where I belong.”

That happens all the time here—even to people who've lived here all their lives. Most famously, it happened to Georgia O’Keeffe, who, on first arrival, said, “Well, well, well! Why didn’t anyone ever tell me it was like this?” O’Keeffe, of course, became so enamored of the landscape, culture, and lifestyle—and made so much of it—that we now recognize the Abiquiú area as “O’Keeffe Country.” The artist’s career has taken on such legendary status not only because she painted so well, but because her journey was one of self-discovery, facilitated by being here.

That depth of experience is what this issue is all about: writers, artists, photographers, and curators sharing deeply personal stories about what New Mexico means to them—stories that remind us all what it is to fall, and stay, in love.

Note: View an electronic replica of this edition and experience it how it was intended.