In other words…Wordless Wednesday.

July 6, 2016July 6, 2016 jacquelineobyikochaLeave a comment

Below is my first just published Poetry Book “Out of the silent breath” which is available on Amazon and Smashwords.

When you buy my book, you support me in an invaluable manner.

Stars, Five Stars, Logo, Icon, Symbol, Five, Rating

Featured posts 93 – Share your posts.

July 6, 2016 jacquelineobyikocha

1456149614808[1]

‘PLEASE KEEP SENDING IN THE LINKS.’

Today’s featured blogs posts are:

Thoughts and life: what are your thoughts? How much does it impact your life? This is a rousing post and good for anytime of the day.

And we met: A sweet poem to butter you up a bit 😉

Propercorn Popcorn review: I love popcorn and these days, they come in all sorts of delightful flavours. The other day I had some sinful gourmet caramel popcorn and added some tightness to my skirt, but what’s going to watch a movie without popcorn 😉

A few items from my toolbox: We should all own a toolbox individually built for great structures. Check it out.

Do step in and show some love.

‘Do you want more eyes on your words?’

Well then, add your LINK INTO THIS LOOP.

P.S. 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.’

Below is my first just published Poetry Book “Out of the silent breath” which is available on Amazon and Smashwords.

When you buy my book, you support me in an invaluable manner.

Stars, Five Stars, Logo, Icon, Symbol, Five, Rating

Rononvan's Weekly Haiku Challenge

Dazzling and Scorching – Ronovan writes weekly haiku challenge

July 5, 2016August 15, 2016 jacquelineobyikocha8 Comments

You are certainly moving with the times Ronovan by giving us a prompt ‘Dazzle & Sky’ that aptly matches the blazing Sun that comes out so early these days and the heat is not mild by any means. The photo I used for the prompt was taken this morning around 5.00 a.m. when I woke up.

Recently, as early as 4:30 a.m.

the Sun rises, rays dazzle and glow

in the Middle-Eastern sky.

😎😎

It’s brilliance warms you up

if you can catch an early walk

under the dazzling clear sky

♨♨

When you miss the hour

that the Sun gently embraces the sky

you’ll face dazzling, scorching heat.

Below is my first just published Poetry Book “Out of the silent breath” which is available on Amazon and Smashwords.

When you buy my book, you support me in an invaluable manner.

My Thinking Corner

Tuesdays Trickles – My Thinking Corner 29

July 5, 2016 jacquelineobyikocha16 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.

♥ Sometimes, it takes a downpour in our lives to unveil the rough gems that we’ve got hidden within.

♥ When going through a rough time, be patient with yourself, for your impatience will only aggravate the situation.

Life does grant us ups and downs and sometimes upheavals that can send us off track, however, experience has shown that when we keep our peace within us and steady the ship that’s our life, we are better positioned not only to come out victorious, but probably have the chance of self-discovery and inner strength that we had no idea we possessed.

Find more snippets of wisdom from awesome bloggers below and do take a moment to read.

And the Sun will rise. These are worth memorizing and remind yourself of it ever so often.

52 weeks of thankfulness: Bernadette rightfully said this that there’s power of positive group energy and this Challenge is a great idea. I believe in the power of thankfulness.

You are not powerless: I love this quote and as difficult as it may sound it’s very possible.

Tuesdays Nuggets: The wisdom of Audrey Hepburn say’s it all. Is your beauty skin-deep?

Words of wisdom: Deb’s words are indeed filled with commonsense and deep wisdom. Take a read.

Five quotes for you when you feel lonely even when you have a partner: these are really useful thoughts, for a lot of times we may be in a crowd, surrounded by others yet a chasm seems to exist somewhere in our moments.

I hope that you find these little drops useful now and again and it would be lovely if you can share your thoughts with us.

Thanks and blessed be.

Below is my first just published Poetry Book “Out of the silent breath” which is available on Amazon and Smashwords.

When you buy my book, you support me in an invaluable manner.

Stars, Five Stars, Logo, Icon, Symbol, Five, Rating

Everyday People

Secret Kind Gesture – Every day beautiful people 80

July 5, 2016 jacquelineobyikocha18 Comments

“No act of kindness no matter how small is ever wasted.” Aesop

“No one has ever become poor by giving.” Anne Frank

“The heart that gives gathers.” Tao Te Ching

Some days, you get to witness things that leaves you feeling warm and know that yes humanity has some milk of human kindness flowing in the veins of some folks.

Last Friday, I sat alone reading a magazine and just floating through thoughts on my notepad when this fella strolled past me during Iftar time (fast breaking time for Muslims) and many were eating or waiting for their food.

Initially, I thought he was a young child, but on taking a closer look I realized that he’s a very small/short grown man, no rudeness meant, but he would be referred to as a midget.

He was looking longingly at my sandwich as he walked by, but because of the way of life over here, he couldn’t approach me, however, to my relief and gladness, some gentleman sitting close by gave him some money – coins.

You need to see how this little fellow’s features transformed and the smile that lit up his face touched me. I felt so happy that as I was leaving, I stopped by the table of the giver to say thank you and he was totally embarrassed that I even bothered to come and thank him. All the giver repeated was “Mashallah” which I understand means Thanks be to Allah or as we Christians would say, Thanks be to God.

Showing kindness to a less fortunate around us is not in the weight of what we give, but in the spirit of how we give it. A little kindness can go a long way.

Thank you Niki for hosting the kindness challenge. I enjoyed participating 🙂

Below is my first just published Poetry Book “Out of the silent breath” which is available on Amazon and Smashwords.

When you buy my book, you support me in an invaluable manner.

Stars, Five Stars, Logo, Icon, Symbol, Five, Rating

Short Stories

Forgotten…

July 4, 2016July 4, 2016 jacquelineobyikocha28 Comments

Excited voice of the children drew Salome’s attention and before she could say hey presto, they burst into the kitchen trailing mud and straw. They were running after the chickens again for fun. Raising her voice to scold them for bringing in dirt, little Jude interrupted her:

“Look what we found Gramma,” he was clutching a strange straw bag.

“Leave it there and let me finish what I’m doing,” thinking it was probably filled with mushrooms or a frog, she continued plucking the cockerel for chicken stew, but their eager faces made her pause to take a peek.

A dumbfounded Salome burst into tears and laughter when she emptied the contents of the bag.

They kids had knocked Bernard’s scarecrow over and in a bid to piece it together, they found the straw bag.

Her late husband Bernard had been a dear man and many times the funny looking scarecrow made her smile in recollection of how much he had been drawn to it as his Dementia got worse.

She had no idea he had hidden lots of coins and forgot where he kept it.

InLinkz

Thank you, Louise, for the photo and Priceless Joy for hosting this charming platform where we unleash our stories

Below is my first just published Poetry Book “Out of the silent breath” which is available on Amazon and Smashwords.

When you buy my book, you support me in an invaluable manner.

Stars, Five Stars, Logo, Icon, Symbol, Five, Rating

Featured Blogs · Share A Link

Featured Posts 92 – Share your posts.

July 4, 2016August 22, 2016 jacquelineobyikocha

‘PLEASE KEEP SENDING IN THE LINKS.’

Today’s featured blogs posts are:

The Frog Principle: a very enlightening excerpt and worthy advice extracted from Andrew Matthews book, Follow Your Heart.’ You might learn something new today.

Don’t ever step in the Never-land: this gave me a certain curious thrill and goosebumps. A sneak peek below:

All about me: Mo of Mugglestones and Mayhem let’s us into her World by sharing parts of her personal life with us. I always find it refreshing to get to know those I interact with a bit better and today not only did she share some aspect about her but a little knowledge of Mugglestones, which is quite enlightening to know. From her information, Mugglestones are a combination of Golden Brown Tiger Eye, Hematite, and Red Jasper, exhibits the metaphysical properties of its components, as well as its own.

Mugglestones helps you to regroup and calm scattered energies especially after conflicts with other people, as in groups.

You can learn more from peeking in and saying hello.

Finally clean: a beautiful, uplifting poem from Jamila. A little snippet below:

Do step in and show some love.

‘Do you want more eyes on your words?’

Well then, add your LINK INTO THIS LOOP.

P.S. 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.’

Below is my first just published Poetry Book “Out of the silent breath” which is available on Amazon and Smashwords.

When you buy my book, you support me in an invaluable manner.

Mundane Monday

The Odd Passenger – Mundane Monday

July 4, 2016August 22, 2016 jacquelineobyikocha12 Comments

Mundane Monday Challenge is created to find beauty in almost everything.

The challenge is simple : find beauty in everyday mundane things, capture the beauty and upload the photographs.

I got into an empty lift two days ago to head up to the 23rd floor of an office complex and I was busy ruminating in my head over what I wanted to say to the person that I was going to meet when a crawly movement caught my eye.

Believe me when I say I literally squealed and hopped in the air, but on a closer look I saw that it was a GECKO!

Phew! I know that they are insectivorous lizards and don’t feed on humans, however between Gecko and I, we maintained a respectable distance since I couldn’t very well jump out of the lift 😉

If you want to know more about Gecko’s you can read this up 20 interesting facts about them that I googled up.

Have a great week.

Jacqueline

Below is my first just published Poetry Book “Out of the silent breath” which is available on Amazon and Smashwords.

When you buy my book, you support me in an invaluable manner.

Everyday People

Learn – Every day beautiful people 79

July 4, 2016 jacquelineobyikocha8 Comments

“The capacity to learn is a gift; the ability to learn is a skill; the willingness to learn is a choice.” Brian Herbert

At whatever age we find ourselves, we must continue to learn. Growing older does not equate to not living life as full and as enriched as you possibly can as long as your faculties and health are still functioning, in other words, as long as you are alive.

Keep LEARNING!

Below is my first just published Poetry Book “Out of the silent breath” which is available on Amazon and Smashwords.

When you buy my book, you support me in an invaluable manner.

Stars, Five Stars, Logo, Icon, Symbol, Five, Rating

Guest Posts

A Friend and Sweet Soul called Eugenia.

July 3, 2016August 8, 2016 jacquelineobyikocha22 Comments

My dear Eugenia has been a steadfast support and friend in this space and I totally appreciate the hand of fellowship encouragement and constant interactions with her.

Her humourous outlook, Tuesday chatter and other thoughtful posts on her blog always leaves me refreshed and I am glad that she obliged my request to let us get to know her a bit better.

Thank you Eugenia for your warmth and kind spirit. It’s my pleasure knowing you.

Hi Jacqueline and thank you for selecting me for your interview. Quite flattering, I must say.

You know you asked for a bio, which the word bio is the shortened version of the word biography. I am going to do my best to compile a shortened version of my life, bio vs. biography.

My Pix

Born and raised in Orlando, FL before the mouse, meaning before Disney World was built. Disney created the opportunity for numerous modeling and acting jobs. I did a lot of modeling and had parts as an extra in a few commercials. No big time jobs but I had a lot fun.

It was obvious I wasn’t going to eke out a living in modeling so I landed a job at an insurance company. After 40+ years in the insurance industry, I retired. This coming July 1 marks my 3^rd year of retirement.

I moved from Orlando when I turned 30 and I lived from one end of Florida to the other (Tampa to Daytona Beach and Miami to Jacksonville).

Other than attending college in Fulton, MO and living in Marlton, NJ for a few years, I lived most of my life in Florida until 2012. My insurance career, which I was co-owner of my own agency for nine years, led me to many great experiences including travels to London and several U.S. cities. It also led me to the finality of my career, via transfer to Atlanta, GA, where I retired.

Yes, there is a lot more to my story but this will hopefully serve as a petite summation of many years and experiences. Currently, I live in Roswell, GA with my husband, Paul and our cat, Amanda. Neither Paul nor myself had children, so it is just the three of us. I must say, I am at a very happy time in my life.

The photos below are: Amanda Panda, our Cat kid. Canton Street in Roswell, GA, a very charming little city outside of Atlanta; and Paul and I while on a train ride in Blue Ridge, GA.

Amanda Canton1

After retiring, I had a void in my life. My position in insurance required a lot of writing, which it is referred to as documentation, and can be used in a court of law. So I was accustomed to writing and I am computer savvy. I thought what better way to fill some of my time than to write. I somehow stumbled on WordPress, which was the start of my blogging experience.

I believe the blogging phenomenon is fantastic! It is wonderful opportunity to be creative by expressing yourself in words, photos, and art; and the learning and sharing of ideas. Undoubtedly, the most fulfilling part of blogging is the camaraderie with others. I find the blogging community very welcoming across all platforms.

I have no set goals or visions of grandeur for my blogging. My need it to fill my time and feel useful. In the beginning, I found It took some time not to write like an insurance underwriter, meaning dry and factual with no flair. Just the facts, ma’am, just the facts – know what I mean?

Here are a couple of my own favorite publications:

https://amanpan.com/2016/04/30/you-know-2/

https://amanpan.com/2016/05/22/remember/

I also run a weekly event, Tuesday Chatter, which the intent is to have fellow bloggers share their link thus increasing their exposure.

https://amanpan.com/2015/10/27/tuesday-chatter/

My typical day begins early. I am an early riser because I enjoy the mornings. After putting myself together, breakfast, and playing with the cat, I am on my computer. I check our email and then access my favs. I spend a lot of time in beBee, LinkedIn and WordPress. I also play games on Pogo.com.

Yes, I do other things besides look at my computer all day – the usual cooking, cleaning, and shopping. My husband and I share in the household duties. Amanda, being a long-haired cat, keeps us busy.

Regarding any future plans for blogging, I don’t have anything carved in stone. I blog as much as I can across 3 platforms: beBee.com, LinkedIn and WordPress. beBee keeps me extremely busy and WordPress runs a close second. In case you are not familiar with beBee, it is the new experience in social media. I migrated with my online friends to beBee from LinkedIn as we were not enjoying LinkedIn’s recent implemented changes.

My beBee group is made up of professionals, with many being professional writers. I have learned a lot, published a lot and I run 4 groups (groups are referred to as hives on beBee). It’s fun, it’s fulfilling and I enjoy it. Several of my publications on beBee are not on WordPress and vice versa. And some publications parallel one another. Here is a publication that I posted on LinkedIn, WordPress, beBee and Millionaires Digest. It generated 5,000 views on beBee. I am truly thrilled.

https://www.bebee.com/producer/@franci-hoffman/you-yourself-and-you

Jacqueline, my attitude toward life has always been positive. I’ve had my share of bumps in the road and feel they are life events that make me a stronger person. My favorite type of writing is poetry, which I can be creative, whimsical, serious, or even melancholy in my reflections. You write beautiful poetry, Jacqueline, so you know understand what I mean.

https://amanpan.com/2016/06/01/life-death-and-inbetween/

Life is like a dream

It can be good or bad

It can be happy or sad

Death is like a dream

Never ending

And unforgiving

In-between is like a dream

But still remains unseen

As experiences of your being

Life may be pleasant

Death may be peaceful

No shows won’t know

In-between may be troublesome

But, isn’t it what you make it?

Wise up and don’t forsake it

-Eugenia

Well, it’s time to wrap this up and again, Jacqueline, thank you for selecting me for your interview.

Cheers!

Below is my first just published Poetry Book “Out of the silent breath” which is available on Amazon and Smashwords.

When you buy my book, you support me in an invaluable manner.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Recently, as early as 4:30 a.m.

the Sun rises, rays dazzle and glow

in the Middle-Eastern sky.

😎😎

It’s brilliance warms you up

if you can catch an early walk

under the dazzling clear sky

♨♨

When you miss the hour

that the Sun gently embraces the sky

you’ll face dazzling, scorching heat.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

My life was stumbling, But then rain came pouring down, And I never felt more alive, I could finally breathe, And felt like the weight from my shoulders, shook and fall from me.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

My life was stumbling,
But then rain came pouring down,
And I never felt more alive,
I could finally breathe,
And felt like the weight from my shoulders,
shook and fall from me.