Listen to the interview here!
Toni Reece: Hi there. This is Toni Reece. Welcome to the Get Inspired! Project for Berks County Living Magazine. Today I have Annie Nicole Ketter with me. Hi, Annie.
Annie Nicole Ketter: Hi, Toni.
Toni: How are you doing today?
Annie: I’m wonderful, how are you doing?
Toni: I’m fantastic. Thank you for being here.
Annie: Thank you so much for having me.
Toni: Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Annie: I grew up in the suburbs of Berks County, and when I was six, my mother married a Navy Seal and we moved to the middle of the woods onto 80 acres up near the Appalachian Trail. We grew our own food, and we cooked on the fire, and we entertained ourselves with only nature that surrounded us. I would sit for hours in one of my secret hideaways in the trees, and I would read and draw from sunrise to sunset while every species of animal walked right by me. The forest was where I always found my serenity and my happiness, and where I pondered life and the world.
After high school I came back to Berks County and civilization, so to speak, and graduated from Alvernia College with a degree in early childhood education. My passion has always been teaching 2-year-olds. I worked as a nursery school teacher for a decade before meeting my fiancé, Jason Hook, and his son, and establishing our home together in West Lawn.
Toni: Wow. Thank you for all of that. My goodness, you grew up on 80 acres – wow! That leads us to the first question of the Project. What does inspiration mean to you?
Annie: Inspiration to me is an awakening of something magical inside of me. I never know when it will happen or who or what will make it occur, but it happens like a spark of energy that ignites my spirit. It comes in all forms. It might be from something a person has said to me, the beauty of my surroundings, the sound of a child laughing, the aroma of flowers in a warm breeze. Life breeds inspiration if you just open yourself and let it in.
Toni: What does that energy feel like?
Annie: To me, it’s just a beauty. I really can't describe it any other way. It’s like a charge that I just take from it. Like I said, it awakens something inside my soul and opens my eyes in a way that they weren’t opened before.
Toni: And you know when it happens.
Annie: And you know when it happens. Yes, you do.
Toni: Wow. So when that happens to you, how do you put that energy, that magic, into practice here in Berks County?
Annie: Let me start by saying that I traveled to many places and lived for a time. I was in Fort Lauderdale and Boston. I lived in Martha’s Vineyard. I even lived in St. Thomas for almost a month in the Virgin Islands. But no matter where I was, my heart and soul still resided in Berks County. I’ve always kept myself open to the people that cross my path in a way that allows for human connection and bond, even if for a moment.
I always do what I can to help another human being in whatever capacity that might be. I enjoy service work, whether it be for a cause or a group or for anyone who needs a helping hand. To give your time and energy to something greater than yourself is the ultimate gift, both to yourself and others. I practice this wherever I am, and I practice this now in Berks County.
Toni: Can you give me an example of that?
Annie: Recently I’ve become part of a fellowship, if you will, of a group of many people – more people than you would ever know – and we meet in places in different churches mostly, and we share. We share our lives, we share our trials and tribulations, our successes, and just listening to each other, it just gives you that connection that you’re not alone in the world, and we’re all part of this great thing, which is life and being a human being.
It’s just amazing. Sometimes people get teary-eyed. It does something when you look over and see someone else, a stranger, give them a hug and tell them it’s going to be okay, or if somebody shares a success and everybody in the room cheers and claps – the whole room gets charged. That’s something that I’ve been taking part in the last few months with these different groups of people. I just have to say it’s really changed my life and really brought so much beauty to my life and positive energy.
Toni: So they inspire you.
Annie: They inspire me, and our stories inspire each other. After the meetings, we always stand around and continue to talk. You get people’s phone numbers. You wind up calling them and continuing to have … you build these relationships. It’s just such an amazing and beautiful thing.
Toni: It sounds like almost a sense of community, and the words that went through my mind as I was listening to you were, “spontaneous humanity.”
Annie: It really is. They’re basically perfect strangers when we walk into these rooms, and to know that they just love you for no reason. They don’t want anything from you except to give their support and be there for each other. It’s just really an amazing thing.
Toni: When you are putting your inspiration into practice it’s by participating in a community type situation like that, and being a member of something like that.
Annie: Absolutely.
Toni: And you’re inspired by them, you feel that awakening, and you inspire them as well.
Annie: Exactly. After those meetings, I come away with such a high. Jason asked the other day, “Why are you smiling like that? Stop smiling so much!” I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face. I just came from a meeting with some friends. I wanted to transfer that love and positivity to him and then to his son, Brayden. It’s just amazing how it’s infectious.
Toni: Do you find that you’re drawn to those types of senses of community? You mentioned how you travel, and you’ve lived a lot of different places. Are you drawn to that type of inspiration in those places as well?
Annie: I love adventure. I love people, and I love new experiences. My mom always said even as a baby I was never afraid of anything, which of course terrified her, because I was always climbing on things I shouldn’t climb on and jumping off of staircases with no abandon. It never left me. I just feel if you’re open in that way and you want those experiences and you want to have that connection with people, you really have to just put yourself out there and open yourself to that, and you’ll be amazed at the experiences that you will have and the people that you will meet. I’ve met some people in those places, and we’ve been friends for 20 years. We might have only spent a short time together, but that bond lasts forever.
Toni: Who in Berks County inspires you?
Annie: I don’t know if we have enough time for me to name everyone. I meet people, like I said, every day that inspire me. My friends and family inspire me of course. Children inspire me. Walks in the park inspire me. I love to go over to the Reading Museum or walk over in Wyomissing and just walk in the grass and sit down on a bench and just take it all in. The beautiful shops and restaurants in Berks County inspire me.
Since meeting my fiancé, who is chef Jason Hook, and having the opportunity to be a part of his life, he’s been the greatest inspiration to me thus far. He overflows with energy, creativity and imagination. The smallest thing I do, make, or say will send him running for his camera or his pots and pans or his paintbrushes. He just is awe-inspiring to me.
Toni: That’s fantastic. What would you like your legacy to be, Annie?
Annie: I’m a true believer in always leaving something or someone better than you found it. I hope that being kind and caring to all people and things, that in some way that will transcend and propagate. My life’s dream would someday be to return to my hideaway in the forest and write and illustrate children’s books for young children. Until that time comes, I will continue to keep my eyes, mind, and heart open to all things and the endless possibilities of life.
Toni: What a great answer to that question. Thank you so much for being part of the Get Inspired! Project.
Annie: Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it, Toni.
Toni: You’re welcome. Take care, Annie.
Annie: Take care, Toni.
