"Being Here"
From the Photographer: After resigning from my university position this fall, I trekked east and north from mid-Kentucky to New England. After years of extrinsic forces defining my time, choices, and behavior, I needed time and space to recalibrate my life, to reconnect my self to my daily activities. The late October weather was often grey and stormy, but the off-season solitude of the coast suited my quest.
I sensed that I'd lost my perspective on who I am and what I want. When Jesus asks the blind man, “What do you want me to do for you?” it seems an odd question—surely it is obvious? Maybe not. Did I know my answer? By spending time away, I hoped to focus on that question and to let go of intruding distractions. As I traveled, I struggled to enjoy the journey without demanding anything from it or from myself—simply to be where I was. The photos below capture some of the moments when I was best at forgetting myself and tuning in to the beauty around me, learning to recognize God through his creation and to be mindful of his work in me as I came home again. Please click the first photo to begin!
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Carol Ruppel taught English and creative writing at Model Laboratory School on the campus of Eastern Kentucky University for 13 years and holds a BA in studio art and an M.Ed. in Teaching English as a Second Language (ESL).
Her classroom experience also includes 20 years of ESL instruction, working first with refugees and then college students. Among the highlights of her career have been a sabbatical year at the Slovak Agricultural University in Nitra, Slovakia, where she co-authored a textbook on research writing through a Fulbright grant, and a transformative summer at the Bread Loaf School of English at Middlebury College in Vermont. She recently left her job at EKU to pursue other interests, which include writing, art, mission work, various volunteer activities, and of course, photography. |
