Echos Of My Neighbourhood

Hello There… Echoes of my neighbourhood

It feels so strange to get back to my blog after four days of been away from it. The longest ever that I’ve been missing in action.

I’ve been on the move around the Middle East, Bahrain-Qatar, and connecting was giving me so much stress that I decided to chill and let it be. I’ve missed the banter and you guys, that it felt like aeons to me.

I love this community of friends and as I catch my connecting flight back to DXB, I will quickly add some snips and snaps of my walkabout.

Stay blessed and talk to you tomorrow.

Jacqueline

Guest Posts

A Single Mom’s Guide to Raising a Happy, Healthy and Safe Family.

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Raising kids by yourself is a lot of hard work but it’s doable. To overcome the stress, anxiety, and challenges that come with it, you need to have a lot of patience and the right strategies. Here are some ideas a single mom can use to keep her family safe and healthy.

Get A Work That Fits Your Family

As a single mom, it’s essential that you have a steady source of income for the family. This, however, shouldn’t be at the expense of your kids or your relationship with them. Even though you have work, you still need to make time for them.

One of your best options is to find a job that can let your work from home. There are tons of online platforms you can send your application to. If being home based isn’t an option, then you should consider reaching out to your present company and ask if you can be given a more flexible working schedule.

Ensure Your Kids’ Protection

If you worry about leaving your kids at home alone, then getting a security system is a must for you. A surveillance system is one of the most effective ways you can ensure their complete protection at home.

In selecting the right system for your family, it’s best that you consider its price, features, and coverage. You want to find a system that fits the budget but doesn’t come short when it comes to protection. If you are living in a rented space, there are a lot of DIY systems you can choose from. Most of them don’t come with high price tags and can be conveniently taken wherever you go.

Read reviews first and talk to some of your friends to get an idea of what type of system they are using and how it’s helping them out. Do not sign up with any company without doing any research and background check.

Spend Quality Time with Your Kids

Being physically present with your kids isn’t enough; you also must know what’s going on with them. Quality time doesn’t always have to be expensive. You can cook their favorite food for dinner, take them out for a short walk to the park or spend a night watching their favorite movies with them.

You should also make it a point to ask what concerns them or if they are having any problems at school. Encourage your kids to be open as much as possible so that they won’t feel the need to keep secrets from you. It’s also helpful if you can get to know their friends and the people they spend most of their time with. Since technology is easily accessible these days, monitoring your kids’ smartphones for any dangerous app is essential, too.

Have Patience

Raising your kids alone can be a daunting task. There will be times where you’ll get annoyed, stressed and even frustrated. If you feel this happening to you, try to engage yourself in some form of relaxation techniques. Deep breathing is one of the easiest technique you can do since it requires no equipment or special tools.

It’s also a good idea to get into meditation daily or you can try exercising. You can try Yoga since it relaxes both mind and body. Starting off with 10 to 20 minutes a day can set you on the right track. You can also try running. It’s a good exercise to improve your mood and thought process.

Know Your Limitations

As a single parent, you should expect tons of work and tasks to finish. This, however, doesn’t mean that you must do it on your own. One of the most common reasons why single parents easily get burnt out is because they feel overwhelmed with their responsibilities.

Don’t be afraid to reach out to your family and friends to ask for help or when you want to vent out. You should also go out occasionally and treat yourself as a reward for your hard work. Going to a salon or treating yourself to a pampering night with at-home spa products can ease your stress and rejuvenate you for the next day.

Andy Cho writes from  www.topsecurityreview.com/blog/, where they share resources and tips with consumers who are ready to take action in setting up reliable home security whether it is through a company or doing it themselves.

Photographs

Tips To Improve Your Photography

Improve photography Study best images, photography tips, Create great images, Ask Questions, Photography components

Study and emulate the best photographers

Take time to study the best photographs taken by photographers in your field. As simple as it sounds, looking at other people’s work, finding out what it is about it appeals to you, and how it was done, what you don’t like about it and how to avoid that leads to improvement in your own photographing sessions.

A great photo will capture your interest and make you think. Have these pointing thoughts at the back of your mind: Read More

Stream of Consciousness Saturday.

Yesterday’s Dreams – Stream of Consciousness Saturday

Ghosts of
yesterday’s dreams
lie beaten
in the abyss
of unrequited desires
crushed and dejected
stretching bony limbs
that wraps
skeletal fingers around legs
dragging its’ bony frame along
and
slowing down
today’s dreams

Let us
bury yesterday
say our goodbye’s
with tears in our eyes
to dreams aborted
like unwanted fruits
embrace with a purpose
golden opportunities
of today dreams
that we may profit
from its’ fruits
lest they fall
like yesterday.

Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt – YES

Uncategorized

Making Little Magic…

Our entire existence is magic.

When we wake up to a new morning, that’s magic.

When we watch the sun rise and set that is magic.

When we watch the beauty of nature,that is magic.

When we watch a beautiful flower bloom, that is magic.

When we listen to the chuckle and happy gurgle of a little child, that is magic.

To Love is Magic. It softens your heart to show kindness to others.

To Love is Magic, it makes you sensitive to others who form part of human existence.

Love is Magic because nothing transforms us like love and God is Love.

Magic – The Daily Post

Blog · Blogging

FIND YOUR UNIQUE BLOG VOICE IN 9 STEPS

Find Blog Voice, Writing, Blog Tips, Originality, Blog Personality Attributes, Feedback, Purpose, Popular Post, Ideal Reader, Connect readers

Your Voice

Your blogs’ unique voice will strengthen your brand and focus. Your voice is that feeling, thoughts, emotions, reactions, that your writing evokes in your readers’ which causes them to internalize and personalize the content that they’ve read while trying to build a persona behind the author of the blog.

To find your voice is something that certainly takes time. It’s not a rush job. There will be many oscillations, but with practice, you will get better at it and it will flow far more naturally.

In order to truly connect with your readers’ and to build your desired community, you’ve got to do it your own way, in your own style but bearing your readers’ in mind.

Your blog is not all about you. If it’s just about you, then you wouldn’t be thinking of how to grow your audience. You’ll be just fine writing your thoughts on your bedside journal for no one else to read. In as much as your blog may represent many aspects of your thoughts and life, it by no means has all the nuances of your complicated persona which is why it’s also a separate and unique entity.

For the long-term growth of your blog, you’ve got to set a solid foundation. Blog your passion with purpose, with clarity and in your own voice.

How to find your voice 

Read More

Friday Fiction in Five Sentences

These Feelings – Friday Fiction in Five Sentences

Image result for images of waiting for love

I could barely wait for the phone to ring.

Every beep of an SMS or tweet raised my anticipation and it plummeted again to disappointment.

Was he going to call or not; ever? I wasn’t sure.

Is this what they call love at first sight, or is it just plain lust?

I’ve never felt like this before; the rubbery legs, butterfly-filled stomach, racing heart, throbbing thighs and many unidentified emotions, I don’t know, but I’m waiting.

©Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha


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Featured Blogs

Featured Posts – Share Your Post Links

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‘PLEASE KEEP SENDING IN THE LINKS.’ 

Today’s featured blogs posts are:

Do step in and show some love.

That will cost you A thought-provoking good read to start the day with. In the author’s words below:

We artificially inseminate our lives with isolation, disconnection, and cocoon in disappointment. The knock at the door is the same; what will this cost if I choose to never try again? Maybe it is worth it to re-engage in the things I place a high value on. If I stay stunted it could cost me and I might forfeit the very reason I’m alive! Just maybe, in fact, it is worth it. We might need to risk again.

Staying on top of work I know that many of us wonder where the day ran off to especially when you look at your to-do list with tons of stuff still left to do. This post is a simple tip that would help.

How I see myself Encouraging, inspiring, eye-opening post to say the least.

Nanowrimo memes Ha,ha! This made me chuckle a bit. I know how tough writing NaNo is.

October Fall Take a walk in the park, listen to music, enjoy it while the weather still permits such decadence 🙂

Full of memories Some posts turn me into a watering pot. Beautiful, sad, poignant and yes, beautiful. Listen to the music too 🙂

‘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

Echos Of My Neighbourhood

Bits and Pieces of my week – Echoes of my neighbourhood.

Sorry for the late posting of my echoes, I’m between trips and connecting on the move can be challenging.

My week has zoomed past in a whizz and a blur. I’ve had many low moments bordering on despair and a number of even moments but I’m getting to an even keel.

Here are bits and pieces of photos taken during the week.

Have you been to Girona, Spain? Lady Lee takes us on a lovely outing. Take a peek 🙂

Each week, I share photos on ‘Echos of my Neighbourhood.

If you would like to participate, the challenge is quite simple and you can find out more about it through this link.

Blog

Blog Bytes – Stay True To Your Voice

Blogging Voice, Consistency, Find Voice, Audience, Blogging Topics, Building Connections, Take Time, Blogging Tips

Holding on to your voice

One great aspect of blogging that a good number of bloggers overlook is holding on to their voice in the huge world of blogging.The tendency is that in the bid to gain readership, they don’t take the time to understand that their voice is what drives their blog and in running helter-skelter one’s voice gets drowned out.

Your readers don’t care to follow your site as much as they care about the person/voice behind the site.

What’s your message? How distinct is your voice in the cacophony of voices? Take the time to find your voice and stay true to it. Read More