If Tomorrow Comes…personal

December 22, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha73 Comments

Recently, I had a chat with a friend and we spoke about passion. Since we had that chat, I have been mulling over bits and pieces of our conversation and chewing on the fat of things.

During our chat, she did not out-rightly deride my passion about writing and public speaking, but in her opinion, she thinks that it should be classified as a hobby, since I was not yet making pots of money from either.

In her eyes, I was not yet a serious writer because there is no World acclaimed bestseller title under my belt.

As far as she is concerned, I am writing just for the pleasure of writing. At this point I had my tongue in my cheek trying to rein myself in from saying the first thought that fleeted through my mind, which was @#$#$%$##%!

Calmly, I asked her how much pleasure she was deriving from her work?

If she was that ecstatic about it, why is it that she moans over her job every time we speak, wishing she had the funds to take a bold step away from the rat race bandwagon.

She had wished over a 1,000 times that she had the guts to pursue her desires to own an events management outfit, but like I had equally given myself the leeway of excuses in the past, she had a million reasons why she couldn’t get started in that direction.

I asked her what her plans were in the immediate, interim and long term, towards achieving her goal, but to my surprise, she had made absolutely no concrete plans in the realization of her dreams.

….And she calls me a dreamer!

Her hope is that tomorrow will come armed with all that she would require to achieve her dreams and build her castles in the passing wind.

I told her that ”Tomorrow will never come if we don’t get hold of today!”

I now cheekily told her that I am absolutely pleased with what I am doing at the moment and though I did not give her a detailed breakdown, I drew a sketchy idea of my writing prospects and aspirations which I believe will come to pass even if it delays.

In the meantime, I told her that I was willing to make certain sacrifices to achieve my dreams, since I had also learnt that some of the material expenses which we load on ourselves were absolutely unnecessary. We can live very well without some of these things for as long as is necessary.

I have heard tales and jokes of hungry artists/writers. I have heard about all the hard mental work endured for passion in return of peanuts.

…Then again, I have heard and have experienced first hand, the irrefutable, bone deep pleasure that a true writer derives from answering their call and I then realize the true meaning of the morbid African proverb which says that”we cannot because of the fear of death avoid going to war, if that war means that we get to live the life that we deserve.”

In some ways, she was right that I am not yet making anything out of my vision and dreams.

Now, it is time to write the vision, take the vision and run with it.

Blogging · Personal story · Quotes For You

Blogging Dividends…personal

December 19, 2015December 19, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha39 Comments

The measurement of success varies from one individual to the other and for me, mine is measured by the amount of positive pleasure that is derived in the pursuit of my passion.

For a whole lot, their success may only be cached on how much money is lining their pockets and if that is the case, then that deep satisfaction and contentment that comes from the unquantified simple things of life will continue to remain elusive in the never-ending need to make an extra buck.

Even though it’s a fact that one must earn a living however, one’s success should not only be determined by the yardsticks of the greenback.

The past fortnight have been such bloggisatisfying time for me that I kept going to bed each night with a wide smile pasted on my face.

It first started with Ben Huberman sending me a very polite and surprising mail inviting me to participate in contributing a theme/prompt for the just concluded poetry class and believe me when I say that my heart expanded in extra warmth.

I had not planned to take the class initially, but I am so delighted that I did and yes, I feel proud to have had my prompt chosen and even if such an opportunity never arises again, this was a big bolster for me, so I am preening. Thank you.

Then Carlos a darling blogger sent me a surprise letter which brought tears to eyes and my heart expanded some more.

In no way did I know that those little words that I kept sharing with him had such meaningful impact enough to warrant taking the time to write me a special letter.

This totally reminds me of these quotes: “Encouragement is said to be the oxygen for the human spirit. Do not forget you are carrying someone’s air with you. Encourage them. Help them breathe” – anonymous.

”Make someone smile whenever you can. You never know how much of a difference you could be making in their life at that moment.”

It’s me Saraa topped my weeks sweetness with her own ration of surprise sprinkles and I continued to smile.

…And to complete my harvest of smiles, few weeks ago at the neighbourhood cafe, I met Lara, a lovely, smiley Filipino lady with whom I had a brief chat when I was busy scribbling and tapping away seriously on my laptop.

She struck a conversation asking me what I was working so intently on. I told her that it was my blog and she requested for the name, which I scribbled on a scrap of paper and gave to her.

Believe me when I say that I never thought that she would even bother. I just thought that she was being polite and that the scrap of paper would be lost even before the ink dried.

Well, I ran into her once again today and with smiles dotting her entire face she walked up to me and said Miss Jacqueline, I have been reading your blog.

You write and rhyme so well. I enjoy reading your blog in the evening. I am following you now and sent you an FB request.

I quickly checked my FB request status which has close to 200 or more requests yet to be answered *covering my face* and I accepted her request right there and then, but I simply felt like I had won some pretty penny.

We chit-chatted some more and I think I hummed back to my house or should I say tweeted back to my house in utter pleasure.

There you have it. I have seen a lot of magic and earned a lot of satisfaction this week. A good evening to you from Dubai.

Creative Writing · Devotions · Hope · Life · Poetry/Poems · Writing 101

So Long To Thee…

December 18, 2015December 19, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha33 Comments

I never ever say goodbyes,
Except when you’ve made a real good buy,
For whenever I say goodbye,
It always makes me want to cry.

It takes on such a finite note,
To memories sweet with tender quotes,
It kinda sticks right in my throat,
Which makes me choke when you board the boat.

Now, I prefer to say farewell,
Which makes my heart to really swell,
With thoughts of sweet affection tell,
And hope that things will go so well.

So long, farewell to thee I say,
For all who journey with me this way.
May your dwelling be in safe grace,
Until our paths cross again in this space.

Writing 101, Day 10 FAREWELL

Creative Writing · Devotions · Inspiration - Motivation · Poetry/Poems · Quotes For You · Writing 101

Forever Rhyming….

December 18, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha14 Comments

Though we rhymed for a brief moment,
And too soon it’s time to part.
In these wonderful moments
I have met such lovely art.

Do fare well, as time passes by,
And the seasons roll on by,
For we’ll be forever rhyming,
Till we can’t rhyme no more!

Writing 101, Day 10 – FAREWELL

Family · Humor - Bellyful of laughter · Personal story · The Daily Post

For Sanity’s Sake…

December 17, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha30 Comments

I have always felt that evenings are meant for kicking back and relaxing after a days hectic job, either with family, doing what families do; eat, talk, laugh, squabble, watch TV, do homework etc.

I would rather close my day reading a good book, or browsing the dailies and just talking off my husbands ears with tidbits of the news.

I also enjoy the quiet time of going through my mailbox or lazily catching up with the blogs, with the sounds of my household in the background.

On days that I feel like stepping out for the night, we could just take a leisurely drive through town, grab a pizza or watch a movie with pop-corn and all the works.

I simply cherish my evenings and due to that, I prefer to do my work in the mornings; bright and early, I am ticking to go and by evening time, I am mentally not in the mood to burn.

The downside with that is that what I cannot get done with by 7pm, gets shoved over to the next day.

It does not escape my mind that there are some whose livelihoods revolve around night jobs.

I truly cannot fathom how they do it, year after year without turning into grumps.

I would go bonkers and probably turn into an ogress – QED.

The Daily Post prompt Because the night.

Are you a night owl or are you the early bird? What’s your most productive time of day? When do you do your best work?

Creative Writing · Poetry/Poems · Quotes For You · Writing 101

A Brave Soul…

December 17, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha9 Comments

“Camouflage is a game we all like to play, but our secrets are as surely revealed by what we want to seem to be as by what we conceal.” — Russell Lynes

”I am totally preening with pride.” No, it’s not a camouflage.” ”I am preening because today’s prompt for Writing 101 was humbly offered by me and accepted by Ben Huberman.”

”So I crave your indulgence while I inundate you with poetry 🙂 ”

Crouched in the thick bushes,
Fatigue camouflaged and blended with the brushes.
Inhale, Exhale,
Inhale, Exhale,
His fingers placed on the trigger,
Steady, like that of a true sniper.
Yet his heartbeats are so loud in his ears,
They were erratic from his present fears.
Sweat dripped and glazed his eyes,
Mingled with tears of his silent goodbyes.
As his days flashed by so fast,
When the heat missile blasted past.
Beneath his camouflage of bravery,
Lay a young soul torn to shreds.
As he was laid down to rest,
On his marble stone engraved with crest,
”Here lies a brave soul at rest.”

It’s time for a little game of poetic hide-and-seek with Day 9’s prompt, Camouflage, by the prolific @jacquelineobyikocha.

Devotions · Family · Gratitude · Hope · Life · Parenting · Quotes For You

When It All Goes Downside Up….

December 16, 2015December 16, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha25 Comments

Being a mother is not a duty that comes with a how-to manual; you simply take on the responsibility with Grace and Hope.

Some days are a fly by the seat of your pants days, where so many things get thrown at you at such speed that you either catch, dodge or get hit.

Yesterday was one of those days. I will not inundate you with all the nitty-gritty, but when you have children, you are always simply in the ”Be prepared mode”, more so with two rough and tumble boys.

One left for school hale and hearty and came back wheeled in with a sprained ankle from a rough game of football. He had scored a goal and the others piled on top of him!

Another came down with a bout of fever and coughing up a storm.

My dear daughter on her own part, appeared puffy faced and teary eyed; her brand new tablet had just been smashed by a careless best friend.

All these within hours of each other and on top of other beckoning, ever- present responsibilities.

”What do you do?” ”Pull your hair out and get crazy or keep calm and handle the tasks at hand?”

Scene 1. With lots of cold compress, gentle massage and pain relief, we got the ankle to feel fine and he is walking by himself this morning, so we are smiling.

Scene 2. Brewed lots of warm soup, made mugs of fresh squeezed lemon with a dash of boiled ginger and teaspoons of honey, 10mils of Ibuprofen and palliatives; we are still coughing, but fever is down.

Scene 3. A quick retrieval of warranty for the tablet and mummy has to go and see if something can be done about it.

So there it is. All in a days job.

Today, I am thankful for God’s protection and grace over my family.

I am grateful for serenity in chaotic moments.

There is always something to be thankful for. What is your heart grateful for today?

You can join Colline’s or Maria Jansson gratitude challenge platforms.

Creative Writing · Inspiration - Motivation · Musings · Photographs · Poetry/Poems · Quotes For You · Writing 101

Graffiti Foot Prints…

December 16, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha11 Comments

The graffiti talent
Could very well be harnessed
To tell meaningful tales
And leave foot prints in the sands of time.

What if your poem could be scribbled all over a giant wall? Check out @atownend intriguing prompt for Writing 101, Day 8, Graffiti.

Creative Writing · Humor - Bellyful of laughter · Poetry/Poems · Writing 101

Body Graffiti…

December 16, 2015December 16, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha14 Comments

Her body made a huge map

Even a cat was having a nap

Painted all over in a snap

Her tattoos shone like a lamp

Like Graffiti telling tales

She even had a few males

Who seemed like they were in jail

And needed money to make their bail

Two of them drank ginger-ale

And another a simple tattle-tale

The other man had a long ponytail

And he sang like a Nightingale

She had a dragon too

Whose breath was hot all through

It kept her warm at night

When it was no longer light.

What if your poem could be scribbled all over a giant wall? Check out @atownend intriguing prompt for Writing 101, Poetry Day 8, Graffiti.

Image credit: Pinterest

Creative Writing · Devotions · Hope · Inspiration - Motivation · Love · Poetry/Poems · Quotes For You · Writing 101

He Loved Me Through It All…

December 15, 2015December 15, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha20 Comments

He loved me through it all
With every stumble, every fall
He simply made me stand tall
And loved me through it all

∴

Unfailing, whenever I call
He became my all in all
Even in sorrow of my own fault
Still he loved me through it all

∴

Though heaven and earth
May pass away
His promise to love I know for sure
That since he has called me his beloved
He will love me through it all.

There’s always room for more poetry about love — and @vijayasundaram2015‘s prompt, Beloved, invites you to take a fresh stab at a timeless topic.

”Thank you Vijaya” 🙂