-Keith Carter
The above quote came from Shaun Kelly's blog, Camera Reality. I know Shaun from our brief time together at Northside Baptist Church in Clinton, MS and a week long mission trip to Macedonia. A few years ago, Shaun pulled up roots and he and his wife, Savannah (a great name), both natives of Mississippi, made their way to California in the Los Angeles area.
Shaun will never be mistaken for a good ole boy from Mississippi. He is soft spoken with a certain gentleness about himself. Generally, he will be found in a worn button up shirt, sleeves rolled to 3/4 length and untucked over his long pants which slightly cover his Chuck Taylor style, Converse Allstars. Often, he will have a camera in his hands. He has a nice head of black hair and when he sets his mind to it, he can grow a great beard. He had this "Turkish" look of a full, bushy black beard when we boarded an airplane with four other people (my son and his wife included) on our way to the country of Macedonia in Eastern Europe. We were sent there by our church on a mission effort to teach English as a second language in a mainly Muslim village called Sredno Konjare.
It was on that trip that I gained great respect for Shaun Kelly. Shaun became more than just this twenty something year old guy in a pair of Converses. I watched Shaun as he befriended my then 14 year old son and was a friend and teacher to the children and people of the village. He helped to lead our group. We had been sent not only to teach English as a second language but to take money that our church had raised during the Advent season around Christmas for the purpose of providing running water to seventy-three households. We were successful in this project and it was one of the most exciting and rewarding things that I have ever been a part of.
Now Shaun is a Californian and has been so for about five years. For now, his roots are planted in that soil. He may never return to Mississippi but even if he doesn't, he belongs to us and we belong to him. Just this week, Shaun wrote a short blog titled: to be a whole artist; Not a Californian, But a Mississippian and the Rest of it is Got Up, he writes of a sense of place and belonging. A time to wander and a time to settle down. While I don't know what the future holds for Shaun Kelly, I find it interesting that when he was a resident of Mississippi, he didn't choose the easiest route to travel. Shaun marched to the beat of a different drummer. Like so many Mississippi artists, musicians and writers before him, his thoughts, what he believed in and stood for, often they cut against the grain of what the average Mississippian would deem important and worthy. And yet, Mississippi is home.
Our only communication has been through Facebook but since they are fairly regular in updating, I have been able to keep up with both of them.
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| Savannah and Shaun in Macedonia, 2007 |
It was on that trip that I gained great respect for Shaun Kelly. Shaun became more than just this twenty something year old guy in a pair of Converses. I watched Shaun as he befriended my then 14 year old son and was a friend and teacher to the children and people of the village. He helped to lead our group. We had been sent not only to teach English as a second language but to take money that our church had raised during the Advent season around Christmas for the purpose of providing running water to seventy-three households. We were successful in this project and it was one of the most exciting and rewarding things that I have ever been a part of.
Now Shaun is a Californian and has been so for about five years. For now, his roots are planted in that soil. He may never return to Mississippi but even if he doesn't, he belongs to us and we belong to him. Just this week, Shaun wrote a short blog titled: to be a whole artist; Not a Californian, But a Mississippian and the Rest of it is Got Up, he writes of a sense of place and belonging. A time to wander and a time to settle down. While I don't know what the future holds for Shaun Kelly, I find it interesting that when he was a resident of Mississippi, he didn't choose the easiest route to travel. Shaun marched to the beat of a different drummer. Like so many Mississippi artists, musicians and writers before him, his thoughts, what he believed in and stood for, often they cut against the grain of what the average Mississippian would deem important and worthy. And yet, Mississippi is home.
Recently, Shaun wrote of his father in a wonderful blog titled: Stuff I Gotta Remember Not To Forget. While I don't think Shaun and his dad always saw eye to eye, when reading the blog, I sensed a respect and thanks and sympathy for his father, an honor and sense of gratitude for the sacrifices that his father made for Shaun and the rest of his family. A working man, doing what had to be done.
When you see and talk to Shaun and listen to his views on many topics, you wouldn't expect that he is from Mississippi, but sometimes you can't judge a book by its cover. His wife, the librarian can tell you that.
