Introspective Reflections…

December 8, 2015December 8, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha14 Comments

I can see clearer now the fog is gone.

I can see a lot of silver linings newly borne.

They illuminate brighter than golden urns.

Blurred visions of scattered bones along my way,

Had distorted views to thing’s, I must say,

And had held me dismayed in their sway.

I saw the reflection of split personality,

Of inner difficulties and aspiring destiny,

Casting illusions on introspection of originality.

Many feet scattered in the rubble of times past,

Unbirthed, aborted, buried and dead at last.

I can see clearly now the ghosts are laid to rest.

Broken visions melded and better than the first.

Atop the ladder of scattered dreams and buried bones,

I glimpse the brighter vision reflected and renewed.

Writing 101 Poetry – Day 2, Reflections

Life · Personal story · Quotes For You · The Daily Post

When Enough is Enough!…

December 7, 2015December 7, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha38 Comments

Not saying no was a problem I battled with for a long time. I was always going above and beyond to assist people and this left me feeling pressured and even created very uncomfortable situations for me in the past.

A lot of times, once someone came to me with their issues, I sought ways to help alleviate their challenges, to help them as much as I could, until I learnt that people will bleed you for whatever you are worth until you become a limp rag and that saying no, is not a crime.

Back then not being able to readily assist someone practically gave me depression. I was left with the feeling of failing to help, which would sit within me for quite some time, even when I knew that I was not in a position to offer the assistance that they sought at that point in time.

At some point in time, I was a member to so many groups and serving in the group in one capacity or the other, that my life was always hectic and inundating.

It was in praying for myself that I realized that my sanity mattered more than what other people thought about my declining their offers and requests, so I started chopping off the strings to make space for me to breath.

Now, saying no is not a hardship, especially when I don’t feel spiritually in tune with the request.

I am not in a bid to impress anyone and if I am in a position to help someone, or to serve, I go ahead and do so, on my own terms.

If I am not in a position to help, I simply state that fact and it is what it is.

The Daily Post Sorry I am busy.

Tell us about a time when you should have helped someone… but didn’t.

Creative Writing · Inspiration - Motivation · Monday Motivations · Photographs · Poetry/Poems · Quotes For You · The Daily Post

Are You Contagious?…

December 7, 2015December 7, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha17 Comments

Around and around the weeks don’t last

Monday is here, in a blink floats past,

And Tuesday rolls in just as fast.

Quick fun fact:

It is impossible to sneeze with your eyes open. We dare you, give it a try!

It’s lovely to start the week and each day as much as we can with positive outlook. I find Leannenz Monday memes interesting.

Do have a beautiful week, awesome people.

Creative Writing · Love · Poetry/Poems · Quotes For You

To Read, To Love, To Laugh, To Live…

December 5, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha8 Comments

As we lay basking
Under soft gentle breeze of the day
I beseech you, my love
To read to me some more
That your words may give me life

♥

Read to me, my sweet one
That your soft words
May wash over me
Flowing through my veins
Embedding themselves
In the core of me

♥

Mesmerize me with
The flow of your words
That drops from your pale glossy lips
That I may drink in each syllable
To nourish and satisfy
The deep yearn within

♥

Enchant me with
Your expressive eyes
That I may find myself
Ever caught between
The reflections of your pupils
And there shall I remain

♥

Embrace me with your love
That it may cloak my being
With serenity and with warmth
And I may taste it’s sweetness
Like honeydew even when
The days fail to look bright

♥

Read to me my sweet love
That these words may empower my mind
And put laughter on my lips
That I may go places with you…
Where I have never been before

DAY 5

Jennifer at INK and QUILL has invited me to participate in 5 day photo story challenge.

Challenge Guidelines:

Post a picture each day, for five consecutive days. Attach a story to your image.

*can be fiction / non-fiction
*poem / short paragraph
*each day nominates another blogger

I invite Sam at Starlit Octave Band a fabulous blogger and poet, to join the photo story challenge. I look forward to reading from you if you choose to participate. Enjoy 🙂

Humor - Bellyful of laughter · Poetry/Poems · Quotes For You · Weave that Dream · Writing

All These Names That You Call Me…

December 4, 2015December 4, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha22 Comments

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You called me crazy
But I tell you that’s hazy
I just have lots of crazy characters
And lots of good friends
Who chatter in my head.

You called be lazy
And I said, Oh maybe
What’s the hurry
When my pillow
Is reluctant to let me go.

You called me fat
And I said no, not that
I just have extra layers of awesomeness
And I am built to last

You called me a dreamer
And I said, please add weaver
For I weave my dreams
While I eat fortune cookies and cream.

You called me a writer
And I said, that’s better
It seems I have to go chatter
With loads of characters
Under my hatter.

”Writers aren’t exactly people… They are a whole bunch of people trying to be one person.” F. Scott Fitzgerald

Hope · Quotes For You · The Daily Post · Travel

Travel Itch…

December 3, 2015December 3, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha36 Comments

Having been fortunate to have wandered a bit around the globe, both as a footloose and single chic and presently as a married lady with a husband who also has a nomadic spirit; as a matter of fact, his loose feet are far worse than mine, I must say without any hesitation that traveling is an education in itself.

It is a worthwhile venture, though it can be expensive to do so.

Something that I realized is that some of the things which we spend money on, and which we forget as soon as that expense has been made, can be given up and the money set aside for a bit of exploring.

These days I noticed that I am keen to go discovering, but for shorter periods at a time. The hassles involved in migrating are no mean feat and I speak from vast experience.

Maybe my nesting senses are kicking in as I grow older and with the children growing older as well, it gets a bit disruptive to up and go because it entails a whole lot of changes, from accommodation, to mobility to new school, to a new culture etc.

It surprises me at times, at how my children have blended into the various societies that they have had to live in and how they make friends so quickly, that most times before I can say hello, I am having friends mothers call my phone to invite them for one do or the other. We are rolling stones but we tend to gather a lot of moss as we go along 🙂

I believe that the opportunity of having lived in very diverse environments definitely gives one a broader sense of understanding, exposure, knowledge, adaptability and so much more.

That said, there are some places that have been on my mind to visit for a good vacation time and I hope that in the near future, I will be able to scratch these travel itches.

I would love to visit so many places and see so many things but if I were to start right now, these would be my first five:

The Fiji Islands
New Zealand
Prague
Morocco
Scandinavia – Sweden, Finland, Norway

Visiting a lot of the ancient and World Heritage places all over, like the Great Barrier Reef, The Wall of China, Machu Picchu etc. would just be awesome.

Time will tell how these things go.

“Traveling leaves you speechless, then it turns you into a storyteller.” Ibn Batutta

”I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.” Susan Sontag

”Once a year, go some place that you have never been before.” Dalai Lama

The Daily Post prompt The Wanderer

Tell us about the top five places you’ve always wanted to visit.

Love · Poetry/Poems · Quotes For You · Social Issues

The Feast…

December 3, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha6 Comments

With hungry eyes and gnarled knuckles,

He begged!

Please could you spare me something?

But they hurried along!

No one cared to look,

They were in a rush and too busy!

In abject poverty and clad in rags,

She groveled!

Hunger had punctured holes in her innards,

She cried out for help!

But no one cared to hear.

They were too ashamed to cast her a glance!

Flea bitten worn blankets,

Torn cartons for bed,

Under the stormy weather,

It’s bitterly cold!

Looking in at the warm and shiny windows,

Where laughter and food overflowed,

Into plates, leftovers to the trash,

Thrown away to go to waste!

He scurries over,

Digging for leftovers,

And a feast did he find.

With tears in his eyes,

As he gobbles grungy droppings,

That were several days over!

He is thankful for the offerings,

Shared with his stray companions,

A lame dog that no one wanted again,

And a one-eyed cat,

His companions at the garbage table!

Sir? Could you spare me a piece of bread? Please?

© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

Please don’t throw away food, someone out there is dying from hunger.

”If you can’t feed a hundred people, then just feed one.”- Mother Theresa

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

”A heart that gives, gathers.” – Tao Te Ching

DAY 3

Jennifer at INK and QUILL has invited me to participate in 5 day photo story challenge.

Challenge Guidelines:

Post a picture each day, for five consecutive days. Attach a story to your image.

*can be fiction / non-fiction
*poem / short paragraph
*each day nominates another blogger

I invite Kay Morris, my fabulous blogger friend , to join the photo story challenge. I look forward to reading from you if you choose to participate. Enjoy 🙂

A link to my neighbours/Community · Hope · Inspiration - Motivation · Life · Quotes For You · Success · Weave that Dream

The Rolling Train Of Thoughts…

December 2, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha2 Comments

It is very easy to sit down and dreamily wish for the niceties that life has to offer, but the bare truth is that those niceties come at a certain price. That price entails working smart and being less slothful.

Achieving most of our life’s goals emanates from our minds, which now transforms itself into the required energy.

So in essence, how we treat this powerhouse (our minds) that controls virtually everything that we are or we aspire to become really matters.

We have to choose daily, the seeds that we plant in our minds very wisely.

A weevil eaten seed is already faulty and is likely not to germinate into anything, much less giving any yield.

Our actions or in-actions emanates from our thoughts or lack of thoughts.

When we change our thinking, we change our lives.

If our thoughts are not working for us, it is time to switch into a better route of thinking.

As my people will ask with a proverb, “If you are building a house and a nail breaks, do you stop building or do you change the nail?”

As we plant the seeds of our thoughts wisely, may we hold onto belief, hope and grace to bring about increase and a bountiful yield.

This is applicable to everyone, irrespective of our religious or non-religious incline.

Thank you Vincent Wambua for inviting me to partake in the 3 quote challenge. Let me extend the invitation to other inspiring bloggers in the house.

Here are the rules:

Post 3 quotes on 3 consecutive days
Thank the person who nominated you
Nominate 5 new bloggers each single day of the challenge.

Family · Hope · Life · Quotes For You · Success · The Daily Post · Writing

When I Was Just A Little Girl…personal

December 1, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha38 Comments

I have to hum this song of Doris Day in my head while at it:

When I was just a little girl
I asked my mother what will I be
Will I be pretty will I be rich
Here’s what she said to me

Que Sera Sera
Whatever will be will be
The future’s not ours to see
Que Sera Sera
What will be will be

When I grew up and fell in love
I asked my sweetheart what lies ahead
Will we have rainbows day after day
Here’s what my sweetheart said

Que Sera Sera
Whatever will be will be
The future’s not ours to see
Que Sera Sera
What will be will be

Now I have children of my own
They ask their mother what will I be
Will I be handsome will I be rich
I tell them tenderly

Que Sera Sera
Whatever will be will be
The future’s not ours to see
Que Sera Sera
What will be will be
Que Sera Sera

Doris Day Que sera sera

Like most young children, I had as many aspirations as my diapers were changed, ranging from being a newscaster, an actress, a mother, a singer, a nurse, a pilot, a lawyer, a writer, a fashion designer….just about everything that you could think of in the book.

I don’t recall wanting to be a police officer, because the Nigerian police of my growing up years were not particularly inspiring.

We hardly knew what fire service men looked like, because if someone’s house unfortunately caught fire, they would attempt to quench the thirst of the licking hot flames with buckets of water while watching their properties turn to cinders, so I had no aspirations in that direction.

I fancied being a doctor at some point, because of the films that I watched, where they looked so capable and nice in their scrubs.

I dabbled a bit here and there in living my childhood dreams.

A bit of novice modelling and amateur acting, debating and writing for young magazines.

I learnt how to sew and realized that I would rather draw the designs than sew the clothes.

I studied law but I am not a practicing lawyer.

I went into international relations/French language and spent over a dozen years working with Multinational and Diplomatic corps.

After my children arrived, I waded into entrepreneurial ventures and found it to my liking – I love being the boss of me and having time for my young family.

In all my multi desires, the strongest desire which has not fallen by the wayside over time, but has only grown stronger has been my writing aspirations.

This is the flame that I want to keep stoking so that it can burn as high as possible and I think that my cumulative, diverse experiences brings a lot to bear into my writing.

I feel as if my writing is an embodiment of all my past aspirations and even those that are still at incubating stage such as some of my interests in Life coaching and Entrepreneurship. We shall see how it goes.

Now, I find several me’s embedded inside one me: Me (myself), me the wife, me the mother, me the child of my parents, me the writer, me the friend, me the life student and many more me’s to discover.

Life is a consistent transition and as I roll with the constant fluidity of life, part of the affirmations I make to myself are that:

I will live and not die wishing that I had lived better. I will live to declare the goods works of the Lord in the land of the living. I will live moment by moment, loving my life as it is and loving those around me. I will not live in fear of daring to succeed but will dare to succeed and fail forward.

The Daily Post Ballerian-Fireman-Astronaut-Movie-Star

When you were 10, what did you want to be when you grew up? What are you now? Are the two connected?

Image credit: Pinterest

Family · Life · Love · Musings · Quotes For You · The Daily Post

It Got Stuck On My Hips…

November 28, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha46 Comments

Believe me when I tell you that I ate so much humble pie in the earlier years of my marriage, that it’s not a surprise I got a bit more ample and humble over time.

There were so many instances, that I cannot even begin to recount.

At the start of married life, I assumed that my husband was an Almighty Druid who should be able to read my mind; this was regardless of the 6 months compulsory per-marital counseling classes that we were made to attend.

I think that my mind was doodling wedding gowns in the clouds and what not, when they talked about that communication part.

Well, after the lovely wedding and the romantic honeymoon, we got into the real deal. I had never lived with a man prior to that time, I had never had a husband, so it was trial by error 😉

I see things in brilliant and different hues of colours and my husband sees them in grays and black, so, I learnt that men are truly from a different planet; maybe Mars like they said and women in a World of their own. Though I can say that some of my colours are beginning to rub off on him 😉

After several erroneous assumptions, mostly on my part, and several courses of eating humble I-am-sorry pies, I had to re-calibrate as I realized that:

No, my husband is not a mind reader, though it seems that years of being together are now turning him into one.

No, he is not a druid but, like in the first instance, some magic is happening now.

I realized that in order to make it work, our communication had to get better than my sitting on my high horse with my nose stuck up in the air, expecting him to know those things that lay within my heart and mind, and I daresay that after 15 years, I think we are getting somethings right, since we even finish each others sentences these days 🙂

Now, it’s time to shed the pounds of the humble-over-the- years pies that got stuck on my hips.

The Daily Post Humble Pie

Tell us about a time you found out after the fact that you’d been mistaken and you had to eat a serving of humble pie.

Image credit – pinterest