How It Feels to Be Alive

Encounters with Art and Our Selves.

Drawing on criticism, memoir, and cultural reflection, How It Feels to Be Alive explores the profound role art plays in shaping how we see ourselves and the world around us. Inspired by Barbara Kruger’s idea of art as an “eloquent shorthand” for lived experience, Megan O’Grady blends personal narrative with close readings of visual works to examine how art can act as both mirror and catalyst in moments of personal and collective uncertainty.

The book traces pivotal encounters with art throughout O’Grady’s life, from a transformative image seen in a museum during adolescence, to the role art played during the end of an early marriage, to its grounding presence in the upheavals of early parenthood. Across these experiences, art emerges not as a luxury, but as a vital means of understanding change, vulnerability, and connection.

Focusing on five key artworks and their broader artistic and cultural contexts, O’Grady investigates how creative expression shapes imagination, lineage, and attention. Through conversations with artists and critical reflection, she reveals how individual works can ripple outward, influencing unexpected genres, ideas, and ways of thinking.

Ultimately, How It Feels to Be Alive is a meditation on attention and meaning in a fractured world. It invites readers to engage more deeply with art as a way of confronting uncertainty, expanding perception, and reimagining the possibilities of both culture and everyday life.