CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS
JANUARY 2014 WELCOME MESSAGE
NOTE: February 1, 2014, is the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ first #1 hit, “I Want To Hold Your Hand.” Enjoy the day by reading Submarines, the Beatles, Sloops, and Apples.
I’d like to thank all my readers for helping make this online magazine a success in 2013. Subscribers doubled; one post, Groundhog Day—Children’s Stories & Poems , received 2072 visits in one day, and the 1000th post was published.
When visiting beaches along the New England coast I often build a sand castle. I like to think that all the negativities of the past are held within the walls of the castle, and when the incoming tide washes my work away it carries with it the negativities, allowing me to rise anew, cleansed and fresh, filled with positivities.
This is how I envision each New Year. And so today is the first day of a new year…the first day of 2014…the first day of the rest of my life. My 2013 sand castle is being washed away by the tide and the gentle rain falling as I write this. Tomorrow a gentle snow will cover the gloomy browns with a sparkling white blanket.
The following quote is applicable: I probably shouldn’t be making any new resolutions for 2014…because I’m still working on last year’s resolutions.
I’m not making any resolutions this year because they don’t stick. Instead, I am setting major goals for my writing, clearing out “stuff,” and a special craft project. By breaking down these projects into mini-bite sized short-term goals I hope to reach the ultimate goal—completion of the first draft of my novel, cutting the “stuff” down by half, and completing the dolls—before the passing of 2014.
Farewell, 2013, I’m sorry to see parts of you go—especially the 32-day travel experience along the New England coast. But fade out you must…as I must welcome the New Year.
NOTE: As I write this I think about Russell and Shirley Livengood, who I met them at the Diamond Café just before Christmas. Russell had just retired from a job in the Midwest, and the couple was closing on a home in Ligonier. We planned on meeting for coffee after the New Year. Then, on Dec. 28 Russell died.
We just don’t know what life is going to serve us in 2014. Our prayers are with Shirley this day.
May you all have a blessed New Year. Carolyn Cornell Holland
CAROLYN'S COMPOSITIONS 