Month: August 2016

Featured Blogs

Featured Posts 115 – Share your posts.

jacquelineobyikocha

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‘PLEASE KEEP SENDING IN THE LINKS.’ 

Today’s featured blogs posts are:

The last Sabbat: a morning jumpstart for you. I enjoyed the dark and intriguing imagery the words created in my mind.

Wrong: Are we guilty by silence? Are we guilty when we turn our eyes away from atrocities committed to further personal interest? What are you guilty of?

Losing innocence, keeping virginity: A short story that makes you think about how desensitized a mind can become. I enjoyed reading this and it reminded me of myself back in the days.

We are giving too much of ourselves: a purposeful read. How healthy is your relationship? This is worth the time to peek into.

Hope for the future: a beautiful, cute and short sweetness for a Saturday morning.

Do step in and show some love.

‘Do you want more eyes on your words?’

Well then, add your LINK INTO THIS LOOP.

Comments are disabled here to keep the loop tidy. Any comments or link you want to send can be added through the link in the post.

Thank you for your understanding and regards.

‘We create a cohesive community when we come together. 

 

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I hear the reverberations of the magic that’s hidden within.

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Everyday People

Prepping the feet – Every day beautiful people.

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Toe nail cutting

Watching the old man go about the seemingly mundane business of trimming his toe nails takes me back to my younger years when my grandparents were still alive.

I would trim my grandma’s nails and massage her feet with a special ointment made out of shea butter and I recall how she would praise and call me pet names that only she had the privilege to 😊

Now, I feel nostalgic.

Jacqueline

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Echos Of My Neighbourhood

Visit to RAK – Ras Al Khaimah – Echoes of my neighbourhood.

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On Thursdays, I share pictures about ‘Echos of my Neighbourhood.

I would like to invite you to participate. The challenge is quite simple and you can find out more about it through this link.

 

During the course of last week, I ventured further than my immediate neighbourhood – Dubai to another Emirate, Ras Al Khaimah (which means the top of the tent in Arabic) for a couple of days with my family.

RAK is one of the seven emirates that comprises the UAE and on a steady, leisure drive, it took us two and a half hours to get there, though I hear some can drive there at the break-neck speed of an hour. RAK is pretty and quaint with the rugged Hagar mountains, desert, healthy hot springs, the Arabian Gulf and oasis that surrounds it. Their lifestyle is also not as fast paced or as diverse as Dubai.

Below are just some of the photos I took. Will possibly share more another day.

Lady Lee takes us to India for her son’s wedding. Beautiful, vibrant, and auspicious ceremony; do take a peek 🙂

© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

The Daily Post

Yesterdays Ghost…

jacquelineobyikocha9 Comments

Ghost[1]

The ghost of yesteryear said boo,
and I said whoo!

You don’t scare me no more,
you scrawny mongrel of deceitful past,

your pointy, bony, ugly fingers of accusation
don’t make you real,

for you are just a spectre of what was, what has died,
and what has been buried.

Begone! Oh ye bag of bony lies;
for the word says;

“that he who the son has set free, is free indeed”
Freedom is mine!

Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

Ghost – The Daily Post

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Writer's Quote Wednesday

The Miracle Lies In Your Eyes…

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The gift of life itself is a miracle, and I see this phenomenon every day. Jacqueline

If you’ve not seen a miracle, then take a second long look in your mirror, for you are staring at one. The expectation that miracles must happen in a spectacular manner creates a vacuum in appreciating the miracle of each day that we receive. Each day that the Sun rises and we open our eyes to the splendour of the Earth is an absolute miracle.

Thoughts of miracles remind me of a what my mother always said, that “May Thy Kingdom come is not only when the Lord Almighty steps his feet down from heaven for us to see, for the kingdom lies in the soul,” and she would say this to punctuate a blessing received.

This equally applies to miracles. For the fact that something is quantifiable, explainable and understandable doesn’t make it less a miracle. Each day that dawns without effort from you and I is a miracle. The majestic beauty of the Earth is a miracle. Conception is a miracle. Watching my young ones grow each day is a miracle. Hearing that bird sing and watching it fly is a miracle, watching the flowers bloom and many uncountable examples out there are natures splendour and nature is a miracle.

Let our eyes not become too jaded

Nor our minds too cynical

that we fail to see

and fail to comprehend

that the beauty of life

lies in our perception

and appreciation 

of all the miracles 

that nature has placed in our path.

© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

We received the prompting word Miracle  for this weeks’ Writers Quote Wednesday Writing Challenge. WQWWC is a challenge that I enjoy participating in and you might find it interesting as well.

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Gratitude

But I want some more…

jacquelineobyikocha26 Comments

As I spent some early morning moments attempting to reach in deep into the reflection of my inner spirit to draw strength from there, I oscillated between moments of thankfulness and the selfish wants of human nature to ask and want for more.hands[1]

I totally appreciate this Summer time spent with family doing things together without the harried mix of school runs and homework in the mix. I was even persuaded to rejoin Karate Dojo classes despite my debacle several years back and yes, yours truly is inching up to a yellow belt in no time (though I suspect that the Sensei (Trainer) is treating me nice 😉

The beautiful times spent discovering new things and many raucous moments of sibling squabbles and motherly scolds are all cherished, and surprisingly, my grey hairs didn’t multiply in anguish. We are a palette of individualities meshed together to form one loving and sometimes maddening unit and I can’t have it any other way. If truth be told, I hate to see the Summer season fly past in such a hurry – the good side is that the heat will come down a notch as well – all things being equal.

Underlying my state of thankfulness is certain discontent that I can’t disregard but it doesn’t diminish my gratitude for the blessings of these past days. I guess the Oliver Twistish part of me simply wants more of such goodness so I’ll strive to keep enjoying and living fully in the moments that I’m given.

I hope your heart is grateful for something today.

Shalom

P.S: There are several gratitude/thankful platforms in the blogosphere that you can tune into and get your ithankful going on. I can’t express in words the enormity of Joy and fulfilment that comes from having a heart of gratitude. Please check out Maria’s blog, Colline’s blog and Bernadette’s for thankful/gratitude challenges

© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

InLinkz

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Featured Blogs

Featured Posts 114 – Share your posts.

jacquelineobyikocha

1456149614808[1]

‘PLEASE KEEP SENDING IN THE LINKS.’ 

Today’s featured blogs posts are:

Stock Photo: I can’t count how many times I’ve had this tussle in my mind, most especially when those cows look at me with such pitiful eye’s and sometimes I spy disdain in their looks 😉

You composed me: there are articles you read and you are simply left feeling satisfied.

The post office box: this short, flash fiction is so tightly woven. The spare words say so much and leave me hungry to know more.

Times change. A little post to make you smile.

In need of a friend: what a heartwarming testimony and tribute. Sometimes, when we least expect it and even when we resist it, love creeps up on us and clings with all it has to give. I enjoyed reading this 🙂

Disue: Step in and say hello. A new blogger friend of mine with lots of interesting posts to enjoy.

Do step in and show some love.

‘Do you want more eyes on your words?’

Well then, add your LINK INTO THIS LOOP.

Comments are disabled here to keep the loop tidy. Any comments or link you want to send can be added through the link in the post.

Thank you for your understanding and regards.

‘We create a cohesive community when we come together. 

 

out-of-the-silent-breath 2

I hear the reverberations of the magic that’s hidden within.

Support Me.

Wordless Wednesday

Old, New, Battered and Worn – Wordless Wednesday.

jacquelineobyikocha4 Comments

Thank you WordPress for playing hanky-panky with my posts and causing it to disappear right after I hit publish.  Not nice 😝

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My Thinking Corner

Tuesdays Trickles – My Thinking Corner.

jacquelineobyikocha24 Comments

Every Tuesday, I share snippets of thoughts that I call ‘My Thinking Corner.’

I would like to invite you to participate. The challenge is quite simple. You can check this link for more details.

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♥ I am already perfect right here and right now.

♥ If I wait until I become perfect – according to another person’s standard – to love myself, I will waste my life.

All you need to do is to love yourself today, more than you did yesterday and to treat yourself as one who is deeply loved, because as you cherish who you are, you will be more productive. You will blossom with joy and beauty that comes from within and even love others more.

Words of wisdom are sent in from Deb and you’ve got to read these, short and deep nuggets.

© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

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Rononvan's Weekly Haiku Challenge

Mindset – Ronovan writes weekly haiku challenge.

jacquelineobyikocha7 Comments

This week’s haiku prompt ‘Change & Mind,’ made me think of myself and how my mind seems clogged these days with tons of stuff that I need to do. Our mind is our powerhouse and every change we crave to achieve stems from it. Like is popularly said, change your mind and you change your life.

Our mind is our powerhouse and every change we crave to achieve stems from it. Like is popularly said, change your mind and you change your life.

I have a lot on my mind

that I must attend to,

to achieve the changes that I want.

**

A closed mind

gives little room

for any changes.

**

When you change your myopic mindset

you are open to affirmations

that will ultimately change your life

**

© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

Image credit: Google photos

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