It’s 10:30 PM on December 31 in Kodiak, Alaska. Dogs are barking outside, thanks to fireworks. Yes, I’ve received invitations to parties, but I’m not going out tonight. Rather, I’m packing my camera gear for a road trip tomorrow. But first, I want to give you an invitation: To “keep on keeping on,” as a friend said the other day.
Be of good cheer. Do not think of today’s failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow. You have set yourselves a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere; and you will find a joy in overcoming obstacles. Remember, no effort that we make to attain something beautiful is ever lost.
—Helen KellerIt’s not that “today is the first day of the rest of my life,” but that now is all there is of my life.
—Hugh Prather, author of Notes to MyselfFor the New Year my greatest wish and prayer for you is that you cast aside wrong habits of thinking and doing. Don’t drag your bad habits into the New Year. You don’t have to carry them with you. Any minute you may have to drop your mortal package, and those habits will vanish. They don’t belong to you now. Don’t admit them! Leave behind all useless thoughts and past sorrows and bad habits. Start life anew!
—Paramahansa Yogananda, author of Autobiography of a Yogi and founder of Self-Realization FellowshipThe only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Let us move forward with strong and active faith.
—Franklin Delano RooseveltGod speaks to all individuals through what happens to them moment by moment.
—J. P. DeCaussadeIn your silence, God’s silence ceases.
—Paramahansa Yogananda
Thanks for being there, and thanks for visiting.
I’m Marion Owen. I work, relax, and love life in Kodiak, Alaska. I’ve worked on research ships, created photographs that hang in The Smithsonian, given up cheese and meat, and enjoy watching bumblebees and snowflakes. And somewhere along the line, I co-authored the New York Times bestseller, Chicken Soup for the Gardener’s Soul. I’m learning how to not do too much. To be authentic, embrace joy, and not burn the oatmeal.
Thank you for being here,
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Kathleen Pearson
January 3, 2015 at 8:57 AMThank You!
marionowen
January 1, 2015 at 9:16 PMAh… Velda. Thanks for the update… very fun and nice timing. Hoping you all the best to you, too in the coming year.
Kim
January 1, 2015 at 8:10 AMWhat a precious gift to rise & shine on 1.1.15 and read your beautiful post. Thank you!!
marionowen
January 1, 2015 at 9:18 PMYou are most welcome, Kim. I send you good tidings from balmy Kodiak Island, Alaska. (It’s in the 40s here).
Velda
January 1, 2015 at 12:07 AMI was talking about you today. Next door neighbors son will likely be stationed in Alaska beginning next summer. She said she didn’t care that he did not hunt or fish but that she and her husband planned to visit and have fun. Right away I thought of you and the things you have shared in the years I have come to know you.
Happy New Year from Northern California !