Author: jacquelineobyikocha

A wordsmith with a vivid imagination, an eager mind and a burning desire to carve out tales. As I journey with my muse to that land of all possibilities and self discovery, I hope my personal evolution will serve as a beacon of inspiration for anyone who chooses to stop by.
Blogging

Is this the end of an era?

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For those of us who enjoy putting our thoughts down in writing and etching our memories in journals and blog pages hopefully not to be forgotten, it is kind of disheartening to realize that there seems to be a natural decline in blog posts, bloggers and blogging. Correct me if I am wrong, but it does appear that the continuously evolving, newer and shinier ways of Social media interaction such as Tiktok and many others that I don’t know of keeps eroding into the audience that was initially dedicated to blogs.

Readers keep minimizing and engagement has dwindled down to the barest minimum. From my own perspective, I think this can be attributed to various reasons,

Personal blogging is quickly becoming a thing of the past, but as I mentioned above, there are multiple types of blogging.

The type of blogging that’s still alive is probably content marketing.

I think that the main shift here is that personal blogging is focused on the writer/blogger whilst blogging with the purpose of content marketing is focused on the reader.

The question online writers today are faced with when content writing is “how to their readers solve their problems?”

And from my observation is that the bloggers thriving nowadays are the ones who are:

  • creating problem-solving content
  • recommending products (either affiliate products or their own) that further solve their audience’s problems

I feel that in as much as content marketing has exploded in other areas of the internet, like YouTube, Instagram, podcasting etc. the written word still remains powerful.

Nowadays, for the most part, I don’t think people are logging onto their computers or phones excited to check up on their favorite blogger/writers like before. Maybe it’s me, but I would love to hear your thoughts about the blogging phenomenon.

But Do People Really Still Read Blogs?

@beyondexisting.j

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Blogging · Life

Tuesday’s Thoughts…

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“All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose: Romans 8:28”

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There are those times when we think that things are not going the way that we hoped or planned. Our plan(s) seems to fall apart instead of coming together and as humans, sometimes, that sense of frustration sets in.

Countess times, our most important journeys becomes the ones that seem to lead us on a winding path that seems like the dead-end cul-de-sac, but to the glory of God there are no dead-ends. Adversity offers us opportunities to learn, to hope, to be patient, to trust, and to grow. Such seasons are inevitable in our lives and how we navigate them matters most.

When next you are experiencing life’s inevitable disappointments, don’t despair or panic. Never be reluctant to switch to plans, approach but don’t lose sight of the goal. Consider such setback as an opportunity to choose a different, more appropriate path.

Always have faith that God may actually be guiding you to an entirely different direction, a direction of His choosing and in line with His purpose for your life.

A dead-end to you may in actual fact be a highway set by God for you.

Check me out on Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@beyondexisting.j/video/7200670219965123841

Blogging · Writing

When the sun sets…

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When the sun sets, it naturally reminds me not only of the end of a day, but the promise of a new dawn and I love them. Back in my home country Nigeria, we used to have very gorgeous sunsets especially where we lived, which was nice sleepy town located around the hills of Enugu.

However, living in these parts, it gets too hot in this horizon of the UAE that most times, I find myself running away from the sun instead of running towards the sunset.

Occasionally, I have stumbled across a lovely sunset here, unfortunately, I don’t think that I have ever managed to capture a great photograph of it.

The best that I have seen so far was around Jumeirah beach, close to the Burj Al Arab and it was truly beautiful.

Who knows, hopefully I’ll get to see another truly remarkable one before I venture away from these parts.

p.s. I finally concluded the bloganuary. So slowly but surely and I have enjoyed it immensely. I has helped me reignite the need to write/blog more frequently. Hope to see you around.

@beyondexisting.j

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Blogging · Writing · writing challenge · writing ideas

Days of my life…

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I can bet my last dollar or should I say dirham that I am the only person still writing Bloganuary prompts. Anyways, it’s the way things are and I have been balancing many nuts per se. Do I wish I had stuck to the prompts judiciously during the last week? Yes, I do, but unfortunately, I didn’t and I won’t beat myself over the head for it knowing all that I have been handling lately.

The thought of writing an autobiography has never been too far from my mind, though I still had to process the prompt. The need to write my autobiography is borne out of a survivors need tell their story and though it is a project that I plan to tackle during the sunset days of my life, hopefully many many more years ahead (who knows) maybe, it is time to chalk it down on the drawing board.

When reflecting on how I would title the chapters of my autobiography, I think it will be broken down in 3 main chunks – not cast in stone of course, but my thoughts twirl around:

Chapter 1: The early years of ignorance

Chapter 2: Then comes turbulence

Chapter 3: Survival and peace

@beyondexisting.j

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Blogging · Personal · writing challenge

Something new…

jacquelineobyikocha6 Comments
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I have been on a continuous learning journey and have learned a couple of new things recently. As a matter of fact, it has been a conscious choice to ensure that I keep learning and improving myself day by day.

Late last year, I started a TikTok account and had to learn how to use the app, how to create posts which are different from my usual blog posts and how to grow my account. I have also been taking an intensive Business Analyst course, and learning stuff like how to use Visio, Figma, Jira confluence, creating functional and non-functional requires, user case story, swim lane etc. It hasn’t been a cheap or easy venture, but I know that it will yield sufficient dividends in the long run.

In-between that, I have taken a life-coaching course, teaching myself how to create a book cover and do all the necessary works to publish my 3rd poetry book myself without outsourcing it – because I want to use it as a learning opportunity. It is painstakingly slow since I have to learn a whole lot of stuff by scratch, but I have come to realize that it is not always about rushing to reach the finishing line but to enjoy the process getting there.

I feel far more alive when I am learning new things and viewing things from a broader perspective. I sincerely believe that every day, it is imperative to push ourselves to learn something new and that for as long as one is alive, we should be life-long learners.

@beyondexisting.j

Unleash your potentials #foru #fyp #slay #unleashyourpower #motivation #succeed #potential

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The tale of 3 dogs…

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“I don’t care for your type,’ she ruffed, strutting away with an air of importance, her cute little nose up in the air.

“Well, he’s a big boy and looks well-mannered.” “I don’t mind him,” Ms. Poodle sighed.

Here they go again, he thought.

Philosophy of Life · WordPress · writing challenge

To do or not to do…

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Procrastination. One word that carries a lot of weight and consequences whether positive and negative. I doubt if there’s anyone who hasn’t slept on certain things at some point in time and the truth is that procrastination does not always connote negativity. Indeed, there are some benefits to be derived from procrastinating and the assumption that we must be active every time – as society often deems action as progress – is not always valid.

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Sometimes, we do need to take our time and delay taking action so that we can gather our thoughts, think things through to gain better clarity especially when it has to do with a critical decision. It also gives us the opportunity to run our thoughts by others and possibly see a different viewpoint. Now and again, procrastination reduces the sense of stress which is usually associated with multi-tasking, timebound deliverables and keeping to deadlines.

If not handled properly, procrastination can become a perennial problem and valuable time gets lost. Having a dream and simply sleeping on it will never get that dream to materialize. It is better to start small and stay consistent. Putting things off till the last minute creates unnecessary anxiety in itself.

Even one’s best intentions can derail when they don’t get acted on and this can have negative impact on the person’s progress. However, when one is selectively procrastinating and using delay as a tool to gain more clarity, more resources or perspective, it may make a world of positive difference, though the crux here is to always be in charge and to know when and how to procrastinate to your advantage.

@beyondexisting.j

Unleash your potentials #foru #fyp #slay #unleashyourpower #motivation #succeed #potential

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Blogging · writing challenge

Sweet tooth…

jacquelineobyikocha4 Comments
Complimentary dessert – oh my waist line 😉

My Achilles heel in this life is my sweet tooth. I am that girl that will be seated near the dessert avenue at a buffet listening to the cakes and whisper sweet nothings to me. I love cakes especially moist chocolate cakes, cheese cakes, red velvet etc. To be honest, I love them all and I am yet to meet a cake that didn’t get along with me.

For my birthday, I would probably order up a cake that offers something in these three flavours mentioned above. My absolute love for sweet things and the need to balance it for my health and weight sake, I stopped baking at home as often as I used to, because I always ended up eating half of the cake and giving family members a little slice here and there to fulfill all righteousness.

@beyondexisting.j

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Blogging · Dubai · WordPress

The power of communication…

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For the fact that I currently live in the UAE and the official language of communication here is Arabic lanaguage, I wish that I can speak this language fluently to ease communication and understanding in spaces where the language is being spoken.

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Asides from my native language and the local parlance back in Nigeria, I am also bilingual (English/French), but a whole lot of people over here barely understand or speak English or French, so, at times it is a struggle for one to explain themselves properly due to the communication barrier. Of course, one must never lose sight of the fact that for them, English/French are borrowed languages and not their mother language. There are also many who communicate effectively as well in either language and somehow we manage to get by.

I truly wish that I had applied myself more in acquiring a good command of Arabic language as it would be an advantage in many ways. I admire people who can speak multiple languages and maybe, this is a gentle reminder for me to make the necessary attempt and stop finding irrelevant excuses.

@beyondexisting.j

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Parenting · Personal story · Writing

Not simply a tune…

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I know that bloganuary is over, but I have every intention to finish the outstanding writing prompts that I missed out on. I fell into a mental funk which came unannounced and that caused some derailing on my part. However, I will not allow a depressive state to dictate my life. The need to rise above adversity keeps me going.

So many songs and the poems that I wrote speak to me, but a song that speaks to me so deeply is ‘we thank thee by Jim Reeves. It is not just a song but a wake up call and a prayer that my dad played on our Grundig every morning in our house throughout my growing up years. For me, this songs brings back countless strong emotions and takes me back home to when my dad was still alive, the smell of my mothers cooking, the morning routines and bustle getting ready to go to school, to go to church etc.

It embodies the wholesomeness of my family, of laughter and joy, of tears, of meals shared and plans for the future. It takes me back to my dad before Cancer, of the gentle rays of the early morning sun peeping in through the living room windows, of neighbours voices floating in through the windows, of Sunday Jollof rice and meat.

In this song, there’s so much stored for me. It became etched into the blueprint of my life from a tender age and I will love it till the day that I die.

@beyondexisting.j

Grateful #foryoupage #jimreeves #thankgod #gratitude #godsplan

♬ We Thank Thee – Jim Reeves