Friday, March 12, 2010

Bit by the Acting Bug - Again!

Every now and then there is this little bug that bites me. Once his venom flows through my blood I have a sudden desire to want to act. Okay so I exaggerate a tad, but the truth is that around this time of year I get in the mood to act. Knowing full well I hate the fear that grows in my belly every time I do it and the many eyeballs that look at me when I do it, yet I still desire it anyway.

Its been almost eight years now since I have stood before a live audience. These days I perform behind the scenes. I read copy for websites, record my poetry online, and stage performances using my children around the house. I guess these things will suffice for now. However, I picture myself in the future doing something around the community like this older woman I met once. We performed in a play together. She was such an inspiration and I fed off her energy. She took acting seriously and when I asked her why she did it, she said, "It gets me out the house. It makes me feel young and despite what my husband and children say about it, I enjoy doing it and I am going to keep on doing it!"

We make a lot of sacrifices in this life for others especially when you are a parent, so when the opportunity comes to do something for you, just do it!

I'll be acting again one day, I can feel it...

Nicholl McGuire

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

One Day at a Time: Laboring to Love Myself

The road in learning to love myself has not been an easy or short one. It has been difficult and long. I finally realized after 30 plus years on this planet that I had no concept of what love is and how do I incorporate it into my daily life. I had heard people tell me and those around them that they loved them. I had even told others that I loved them. But I came to understand that the warm feeling I had inside was like a lightswitch it cut on and off. How did I get beyond the temporal feelings and lean toward something more permanent? I would not find the answer to this question until I looked within and stopped focusing on man or woman’s definition of what love is.

In order to begin my journey toward loving self first, others and God, I had to understand what love was not. Love was not abusive, it didn’t tease, wasn’t manipulative or controlling. It didn’t walk around having an attitude and criticizing people. It wasn’t loud and obnoxious either. Love was kind, considerate, compassionate, giving, affectionate, and uplifted people. It wasn’t out to make war with everyone although some people accused love of doing that. Those who didn’t understand love nor ever received it were the people who were at war with love.

Did you ever find yourself suspecting someone of wanting something more just because they did something nice for you? Did you ever feel obligated to do something for someone just to get them off your back? Did you try to find fault with them? Did you debate with them just so that you could get out of doing something for them? I ask these questions, because people who don’t know genuine love will be suspicious of it. They will talk about it to others and hope they can rally up some support that says, “Down with love, up with knowledge.” The “I told-you-so” types want to be right that love wasn’t really love after all, “You see why I don’t put my heart out there…I like him but I don’t love him…I don’t feel the need to tell people I love them…” This kind of thinking is why many relationships fail, why many children grow up abusing their partners and their own children, it’s why people refuse to get along and so on.

If there is anything I want you to come away with today is watch for loving moments, loving statements and the opportunity to show others love. The sweet voice in your mind that says, “I should do this for Jane and John Doe…” shouldn’t be shut down. It should not be suffocated with comments like, “But what has John done for me lately and well you know how Jane can be!” The thought came to your mind for a reason, you might as well act on it and what is the worse that could possibly happen? Someone may reject the gift and if so, you can always take it back, no longer perform the service, or take your business elsewhere. You should never allow rejection to keep you from performing.

Nicholl McGuire excerpt from an upcoming podcast regarding my book, "Laboring to Love Myself" Amazon.com

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

My Own Woman

There comes a point in life where like a child learning how to walk, you start out being helped by others in learning how to make decisions, but then eventually you learn how to think for yourself. No longer do you succumb to what other people say, think, or feel about you. You are your own woman or man now, and if society doesn't like it well then they can...

I awoke one morning to this reality of being my own woman. I reflected back to childhood memories both good and bad. I primarily pondered on those who have influenced my life, in particular the United States government, from the public education I received to the public food stamps I once carried, it all seemed good at least on the surface, but remember what I wrote earlier, "I awoke one morning..."

Having been indoctrinated very young by an organization (I prefer not to name because they do more good than harm for young minds,) they taught me to love God, country and family, I didn't know about soft mind control tactics at the time. I didn't know they were being used on me and others who chose to join government-run organizations including churches (forget what you heard about separation of church and state.) Rather, I thought I was born into a nation that allowed us to exercise our God-given abilities not to control them for their benefit. However, the reality was society, not God, had a plan for my life, if I didn't know how to have a relationship with my Creator for myself.

Others would tell me how to talk, walk, what to say, what to think, etc. Of course it was all for my own good, now wasn't it? Is there ever a time limit when we outgrow soft mind control? Apparently there wasn't for me or for you, because even after you have graduated from highschool, college, and/or trade school, there are organizations that are government controlled as well waiting on you. Whether it is the mega church not too far from your home, the local chapter run by a national group, a business, the children youth center, even the community childcare facility, someone or a group is influencing you and your family in a way to do something for them and whatever that something is it has a dollar figure behind it! Military recruits study your son, entertainment groups study your daughter and civic groups study you. If you do well and stand out above everyone else, someone will want to learn more of you. That someone will be your handler one day if you aren't too careful.

So I have a new way of thinking similar to those older people who come to a place in their life where they say, "I don't care." They take that deep breath and they enjoy their lives and then they die. I personally am tired of holding my breath in and waiting for others to tell me what to do, I realize its time to be my own woman!

Whether your "handlers" were your parents, your friends, civic groups and other associations, someone influenced you to become the person who stares back at you in the mirror. Be it right, be it wrong you are manufactured in some way by someone else to work for them. I had a serious wake up call upon my life after 911. I had never thought for a single minute that our government had anything to do with the catastrophes that occurred that day, but I was wrong!

The images on the millions of television screens on 911 were so horrific. I learned later those closed eyes of mine who had been glued to the television, had went to bed that afternoon and didn't wake up until that evening with two little ones playing alone. I had experienced what some would call a "trauma based mind control" like so many others. I saw the unedited version of the tragedy live. People were literally throwing their bodies from the windows of the Twin Tower buildings. By the time some of you got off of work to see the events that evening, they had edited those disturbing images out of the reporting.

Whether we choose to admit or not, we have all been open to mind control at some time or another in our lives. If you have been trained in anything whether how to fight in a war or how to perform tasks for a boss in a professional atmosphere, someone has programmed you on what to do each and every day. With routine, you eventually know what to say, how to say it, where to put something, what to do, etc. This is why sometimes it is very hard for some to teach an outsider, because they are so controlled by their atmosphere they see no other way of doing things. Then when the new- comer shows up with a new way of doing things that could help the company, he or she is greeted with a frown.

There are two certain types of men I have been around all my life, the ones who have been in the military and the ones who have been in prison. Both types of men have come out of these government-run organizations with no support, no deprogramming, and no understanding of how their actions have negatively impacted others. Trained to kill, a man who doesn't know how to turn off that personality is a terror. He uses the same mind control tactics he was given on his family. He has to control every situation. He treats everything like he is on a mission and if you fail him, there is a price to pay. He knows how to use his voice to get what he wants (or at least tries to get what he wants.) He stands a certain way to demand attention. He fights in such a way to send a message to one's mind that will be etched forever. He has to maintain an atmosphere that is conducive to his programming. Instead of doing push ups or running laps like he did when he failed his instructor, you are threatened, possibly beaten, strangled, something is taken from you, or he simply walks away from you and all ties associated with you.

The man who has been trained to follow orders in jail comes out into the world looking for someone or something to make him feel whole again. Usually when his needs aren't met, he returns to his old way of life even worse then when he left. Without family, church, or other kinds of positive support, he is nothing more than a walking time bomb too just like the brainwashed former military official. At some point he is going to explode on someone or something. Unfortunately, I didn't witness many good men who were great to be around having come from either background. If anything, they were problems to either their own family, friends, community, or society at large. The military got a few good men, but once those men came out, what happened? In my personal experience I have yet to encounter men who came out with minds completely intact especially if they fought in a war and/or been exposed to certain drugs designed "to aid them" while on duty. Something always seems to be mentally amiss.

So here I am wide awake one morning reflecting on my life and specifically thinking about having been influenced by government entities from public school to jobs. I even recalled a time when I had thought about joining the Army or Marines. I had been influenced very young to take pride in my country and as a young woman at 17 years, I was willing to do just that until my dad told me otherwise.

When I awoke that morning I was sad, then angry, then sad again because I knew my reality, my truth, yet those around me were still in the dark. And as I learned from my own experience, you can't be of any help to someone when you are living in the dark.

Nicholl McGuire
http://www.associatedcontent.com/nichollmcguire

Friday, March 5, 2010

So What About Your Books?

You know those books you are probably thinking about writing or the ones you have already written but haven't done anything with recently? Well, I have a couple of those too and these days my time is very limited as well as patience and motivation. I'm just not much of a politician doing alot of handshaking, especially with little ones, household chores, an Internet business, books, and more! However, it doesn't keep me from finding alternative ways to promote my books. So I came across this article. I thought maybe someone, just like me, might need a helping hand too with getting those books and/or business promoted. Enjoy!

How to Build Your Author Platform to Enhance Your Book Promotion

Monday, February 22, 2010

"I want a blog!"

They saw your blog and now they want one too, the "I want..." people I like to call them. Its not like they are serious about wanting a blog, they just desire one because you have one. They don't even know what they will talk about, but because you talk about yours or you have your website link so neatly placed on a business card, flier or somewhere else, it has caught the person's eye and now they want it too.

These are the same "I want..." people who say, "I want to write a book too!" when you tell them about yours hoping they will buy it. Instead, they ask about the content of your book then politely interrupt with, "My relative just wrote a book...my friend had a book signing at XYZ bookstore." I don't want to appear rude, desperate for a book sale, or mean so I say, "Oh that's nice..." But what I really want to say is "Who cares just buy my book already! Better yet, I'll make it easy for you, here's my book now tell your relative or friend about it and have them call me." LOL

Why can't others just be happy for you and buy your book? Anyway, I digress...


So what I really wanted to say in this blog posting is I found the following article helpful for that friend who says, "Ah, I want a blog too!" and if you don't have a friend like that great, maybe it will be helpful for you!



4 Methods To Increase Blog Visitors


Blogging is a perfect way for people to share their thoughts with others. When people blog, it signifies they keep an updated online journal or calendar. Weblog and blog are identical things. Companies might also blog to help increase the number of business on their websites. For many bloggers, going up traffic to their blogs is not the only objective. Most people that blog need to keep their visitors coming back for more.

The next are four alternatives to keep visitors coming to your blog site.

Blogging is a relatively new phenomenon. A few blog writers select to keep their blogs personal and do not share their thoughts with others. These are more like online diaries. Other wants to share with everyone what he or she has to tell. Blogging is a huge business and multiple websites offer free blog hosting. Furthermore, many companies elect blogging as an inexpensive alternative to advertise their products or services. Blogging on the net is often much cheaper than maintaining a website and is normally more attractive for readers and customers.

1. Update your blog

The easiest alternative to keep visitors coming back to your blog site is to update your blog on a regular basis. Readers will stay loyal to blogs that are updating daily. A few blog writers even updated many times a day. Readers will tend to lose interest in your writing if they have to wait many days for new material. Be loyal to your readers and your readers will be loyal to your blog. Furthermore, there are entirely thousands of blogs accessible on the Internet. If your blog is not update on a regular basis, you will lose your readers to another blog site. Another fun alternative to update your blog and keep your readers interested in your site is to include something fun for your readers to enjoy. That may be as easy as a joke or perhaps a link to a humorous story you have found on the net. You might also try this includes a trivia game or polls for your readers to enjoy on a regular basis.

2. Participate in web communities

Participating in web communities or debate forums and remarking your blog whenever probable will help keep readers coming back to your site. Furthermore, you can gain new readers every time doing this. You can also be loyal to the blogs of other writers and ask them to arrive to your site. Leave cool comments about their site and invite them to your site. If you have mutual interests and an identical type of readers, you can even share your blog links on your site. This helps everyone. Your reader will appreciate attractive reading while you make the most of readers from the other site.

3. Understand who reads your blogs

Another great alternative to keep blog readers coming back for more is to comprehend who reads your blog and write content that is direct towards them. This does not mean that you have to write on only one particular subject. If you are a stay at home mom and write about your life at home with the kids, your loyal readers may not appreciate it if you write about innovative topics or use loads of foul language in your writing. If you mostly write humor, do not bog your readers down with sorrowful woes and tales. Your readers will be interested in the things that attracted them to your site in the first place. That is normally what you are more interested in writing about. You can gain a better understanding of your readers interested by this includes places for comments and encouraging your readers to contact you by email.

4. Include keywords

You can gain readership and help keep your ongoing readers by this includes certain keywords in your blog. If you have entered your blog on a search engine, the keywords that refer to your blog will come up after a search. This is a great alternative to get readers interested in your blog. This is also a good way for companies to boost the traffic to their blog.

Blogging is the new alternative to keep a calendar or journal online. Blogging is increasingly generalizing for companies further. If what you want is to make your blog stand out against the thousands of other blogs, keep your readers interested and coming back for more everyday by updating your writing, take part in online communities, comprehend your readers and include keywords.

By: Calvin Tan

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Freelance Jobs | Demand Studios

I thought this site might be one worth your interest. It pays more than the others I have mentioned in the past. However, the editors are very strict. So you have to bring your A game to this site; otherwise you will have to rewrite your article or worse face rejection. They also have a scoring card on each author as well.Freelance Jobs | Demand Studios

Friday, February 19, 2010

Future Speaking Engagements

I know the time is coming that I will have to stand in front of an audience again to make a speech and/or possibly act. I have been writing online for the past six years offline for over 10, so I consider myself to be a bit of a recluse. However, I am conditioning my mind for those future moments. Maybe you are required to write a speech and present it in the future, here's a useful article I read recently. To your success!


There are several types of speeches, and each have their own organizational patterns and elements. In this article, I discuss the parts of an informative speech. An informative speech is similar in structure to the five-paragraph essay structure you learned about in high school: an introduction paragraph, three main points (the body), and the concluding paragraph. You can think of an informative speech the same way.

The introduction section of your speech should last about one minute in a five-minute speech. In the introduction section, you should first gain the audience’s attention, then relate your topic to the audience. Next, you should establish your credibility on your topic, state the purpose of your speech and tell your audience your central idea, then transition to your first main point.

The Speech Body

Your three main points should be organized in some logical, easy to follow pattern. One pattern you could use is a chronological pattern. With a chronological pattern, your main points would be organized in time sequence: what occurred first, what occurred second, etc. This pattern would work well for describing a process, such as a recipe, or for discussing periods of time in history.

Another option for organizing your main points is the spatial pattern. You can logically organize your points based on physical space: top to bottom, left to right, inside to outside, etc.

Another organizational pattern is the causal pattern. You can first discuss the cause of a problem, then the effect, or vice-versa. Related to this pattern is the problem/solution pattern. First discuss the problem, then discuss the solution.

The final organizational pattern is the topical pattern. You can divide your topic in to it’s logical components and discuss these components individually. For instance, if your topic is about symphonic orchestras, you could divide your main points into strings, brass, and woodwind instruments.

You should begin each of your three main points by clearly stating what your main point is. Each main point should be limited to a single idea. Try to be creative and avoid just announcing your main point. Each main point should be supported by examples, definitions, statistics, comparisons, or testimony from experts.

Transitions

Between each main point, you should have good transitions. Transitions are verbal bridges that move your audience from one idea to the next. A transition is a word or group of words that show the relationship between ideas as you move from point to point. Transitions can be effectively indicated by pausing before moving on to another main point, by changing the rate of your speaking, varying your pitch, or more directly, by using statements that tell an audience you are moving on. An effective transition summarizes the points preceding it, and previews the next point. For example: Those are the two main problems, now let’s see how they can be solved.Use a variety of transitions and avoid falling into a rut. Transitions are surprisingly difficult and my students used to tell me that coming with good transitions is one of the hardest parts of speech writing. Here are some examples of transitions you can use:

However
In addition to
Similar to this
Looking further
Now consider it from
Furthermore
More importantly
Therefore
Despite this
Now let’s consider
First of all
Speech Conclusions

The final part of your speech is the conclusion. In your conclusion, you would first signal the end of your speech, which let’s your audience know that you are finishing. Then you recap your main points, and finally end your speech with a good clincher that reinforces your main idea and ties it all up.

By: Kevin Shaughnessy
If you're a student, be sure to visit GradeMySpeech.com to get feedback on your speech from a former speech instructor BEFORE you have to deliver it for real. It's affordable, and it's a great way to help improve your speech.

Friday, February 12, 2010

Make Your Presence Be Known on the Internet for Customers

There are times when I get someone offline who will ask me, "How do I get known on the Internet?" They usually have an offline project they are trying to promote, a website that needs more traffic, and other activities that they are involved.

I can tell you from experience its not who you know on the Internet, its about what you do. Like the farmer who plants his seeds in the spring and anticipates a harvest in the summer, the same concept holds true with this thing called, "Internet Marketing."

I don't claim to be an expert or guru in any one subject, I let others give me that title when it comes to some of the things they have noticed that I can do.

Anyway, I put together a very basic video on what someone who is fresh to internet marketing can do today to get started working on his or her presence. Each website that I show has complete instructions on what they can do for you and provides step-by-step instruction on opening accounts and building your website pages. Feel free to watch the video at the following link:

Make Your Presence Be Known on the Internet for Customers

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Blogging: A pleasure that distracts from one's book writing

A few years ago I read where a woman talked about how her blogging was getting in the way of her book writing. I couldn't agree more!

As much as I would like to do other things besides write a new book or complete an old one, I know that this is something I should be doing, but at times I allow myself to become distracted with making the website owners money while getting paid pennies on the dollars.

Writing for other websites, instead of writing for you, can keep you happy about those pennies, but keep you away from the dollars that your own creation could bring. A money stream has to flow not only from a single source, but all sources! So when you are writing for someone else, but not creating your own, you will find that after awhile you could have been making more money from your own creation, but you were more concerned with taking the easy way out which is piggy backing off of someone else's success.

I thought I might write this as a reminder to myself and to those who tune into my blog, we must remember as writers to not allow ourselves to be so consumed by the ease of getting published that we neglect what our God-given calling is in this life -- FINISH THAT BOOK!

Sunday, February 7, 2010

How Do I Make My Internet Presence Known?

One day I decided to create a "To Do List" and while I put this list together, I thought maybe I should share some of what I am doing with those interested in making their presence be known on the Internet as well. The outcome: a YouTube video that simplifies the process of getting your name out there in the Internet world!

If you are just starting to understand the significance of taking what you do offline and giving it life on the Internet, then this video was created for you. Veteran marketers will be bored by it, so don't bother watching it unless you are looking for a checklist to be sure you have all the basics covered.

To view the video, please click here. If you have some brilliant ideas, I would love to hear about them just comment here or send me direct mail on Twitter.

A final thought, if you aren't following me on Twitter, then what are you waiting for? Feel free to click here.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Fridays: Feels different when you work from home

I remember the energy I felt when I would go into work on a Friday. There was just something special about Fridays. People seemed to be nicer, laid back, and showed their humorous side. But when you work from home, you miss all of that!

Being at home on a Friday is just another day for me that is if someone says something to me about it being Friday, I just might capitalize off their energy. We may chit chat for awhile, laugh and then off we go to perform the next errand or complete the next task.

So to all of you who have been following me, may I wish you all a Happy Friday!

Oh and one final thing, in case you have a little down time, you might want to check some things out that may be useful to you...

Make money taking surveys, games and reading e-mails

Monday, February 1, 2010

A Twitter Tool You Can Use for Free

Interested in doing more with your Twitter account? Recently, I received 8 exclusive & custom made tools to get real followers at Twitter, all for Free. One is called,"Twitter BuggaBoo Hunter" tool.

You have to come see what THAT is!

A person needs to roll with things, and as I learned, I need to use this for my marketing, and you should too.

You use these tools to build followers on Twitter and pick up where emails are blocked and cannot reach due to sensitive isp's filtering ads.

Also - the company doesn't put intrusive ads on your Twitter page. They also
have exclusive tools and no monthly fees. The people who follow you are real members - not a bunch of fluff people.

So take a look at the site and sign up today! Twitter BuggaBoo Hunter" tool.


Sunday, January 31, 2010

Addicted to Marketing!

Ever feel this way? You know the determined feeling, the kind that sometimes keeps you awake at night. Your mind is in overdrive reminding you that you must reach certain goals by a set time period. So you rush around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to get everything done! This is the way I feel right now.

There is an hour glass in my head that has been flipped over and if I don't get tasks completed, there are consequences like no money which means bills get left unpaid, no office supplies which means projects don't get done, and the worst of all is the demon of defeat will show up again and say, "I told you, you couldn't do it!"

So I became an addict to marketing and any business savvy mind can definitely relate! You know late night hours thinking of yet another way to get your product out to the masses. Outlines and more outlines of what more needs to be done. Rewrites of ad copy. Forum visits (looking for others' opinions to be sure you are doing everything correctly) and so much more!

As a child I started my first business selling tablets and drawings as a result of watching my grandmother hustle food, liquor, drink, and desserts from her home. She would send me to the front door with bags of product to give to a waiting customer. She entrusted me to take the money from the customer and place it in a Planter's peanut can. There were many times that I saw that can filled to capacity. She would then take the money out and either put it in her bosom or give it to one of her adult children to run an errand for her which was usually to get more supply. She always knew how to take a $1.00 and turn it into $5.00 -- I kid you not!

So when you see people like dear ole' grandma and others around you making a way when others see no way, you can't help but have the drive to make your own way. I can tell you many other stories of family members who did the best they could with what little they had, but I won't because I will be making this blog entry much longer than it needs to be, and besides I have to get back to marketing! God bless...

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Uploading, Downloading, Scheduling...

This is what we do when our job is online. We upload articles, we download software to help manage our time, we schedule tasks to complete while we are away...I thought I was busy before, but clearly I am very busy these days! But I don't complain because I know that what I am doing gets me one step closer to achieving my goals this year.

My inner voice has been asking me, "Have we opened more accounts, gained more fans, followers and friends? Have we posted ads, wrote new articles, and sent thank you notes?" There is a manager in me right now that is telling me, "Enough of that typing on your blog! It's time to get back to work!"

Well with that said, I got to go! Until next time...

Nicholl McGuire
Follow me on Twitter

Interested in Blogging in Your Sleep?

Finally I found something that automates some of my work for me and also helps me drive traffic to my Twitter account. If you are interested in the tool I use, Click Here. Take advantage of the cheap cost now before the price goes up.

Blogomator.com

Please note: software is not compatible with Blogger yet. They are still developing it. However, Wordpress it works fine!

Friday, January 22, 2010

Join Me on Twitter!


I enjoy talking about what I am up to (as you may already know,) there's plenty! So follow me on Twitter! I share with you some of the websites I visit, the deals I have found, and life experiences such as: parenting, finances and more!

Follow me today!

http://www.twitter.com/nichollmcguire

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Does Anyone Have a Glass of Focus?

I could sure use a glass of focus! What I mean is a plan that helps me to stay focused and yields some noteworthy results! It's hard to stay committed to one thing when everytime you look up the Internet is changing. Marketing practices only a few years ago are now ineffective. Things that use to be hot to sell online is now over saturated and so cheap that you can't make a profit. As much as I would like to find just one simple thing that I could focus on, I find that my focus changes because the money or lack thereof keeps changing.

I am open to many legitimate ways to make money, but as some of you already know, and as I mentioned in a previous blog entry, not all of the ways are profitable. Case in point, a relative asked me to look at three websites for ways to make additional money. I found that two out of the three ways showed promised. The third a site that allows you to comment on websites for cash, failed after the first test. The server didn't respond, the software didn't work the first go round, etc.

The other two, a site that supposedly pays you for writing for them gave me the feeling that it was going to be one of those sites that demanded too much for too little pay. The other I didn't meet the criteria. It was a site that will pay you to Twitter about various advertisers. Once I get a large following on Twitter I will explore this opportunity.

I think tomorrow I will stick to one thing and that is just what I started to do today and that is finish my book! Cheers to focus!


Nicholl McGuire
http://associatecontent.com/nichollmcguire

Friday, January 15, 2010

Laboring to Love Myself: sequel to Laboring to Love an Abusive Mate


I am thrilled! My book Laboring to Love Myself is on Amazon.com If you aren't familiar with my first book, Laboring to Love an Abusive Mate then you might be wondering what's the big deal? Years ago, I was a victim of dating/domestic violence with a man ten years older than me. He was very controlling and believed that I was the problem for everything that went wrong with him. He blamed all the women of his past including his own mother. The problem was he had severe mental issues that resulted from some very disturbing things that he witnessed and experienced as a child and young man. I wrote the Laboring to Love an Abusive Mate, because I felt burdened to tell young women why we shouldn't stay in a relationship with an abuser.

Emotional and physical abuse is all the same. The controlling individual promises the sun, moon and stars but in the end he is bitter, manipulative, and scary. Who wants a relationship with someone like that? I urge anyone who happens to view this page, encourage those you know or yourself that this will be the year you will get out of the relationship and stay out! For tips visit http://laboringtoloveanabusivemate.blogspot.com

Click on the link to my new book, Laboring to Love Myself

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Are You Restless in Your Spirit? In Search of Something?

Some pray, others chant, and still others will get involved with organizations and activities seeking higher knowledge to complete tasks. In the spiritual realm, I think due to the recession many are looking toward anyone or anything to increase their profits. I'm sure you have heard people selling their souls to the devil. This is real and there is much evidence on and off the Internet of people who do such things. Recently, rap artist, Kanye West, admitted he did it. I think he decided to confess this because he was severely impacted beyond what he realized when he stood in front of a young white woman and declared that a black woman was better than she. He should have known better. America is still very much comprised of racists who are seated at the top of many organizations of our society. I don't believe Americans would have made such a big deal of this had it been someone else who wasn't black. Will West's career rebound because of this? Not necessarily unless something negative happens to him. Something so bad that Americans will pity him. When one sells his soul to the devil, he is saying, "Give me whatever I want in exchange for me serving you."

What you rarely hear about are people who give their souls to God unless you read, watch or visit places where people provide their testimonies. I am one who has given my soul to God -- the one of the Christian Bible. The God of Moses, Aaron, Jesus, Ester, Naomi and many others that is the God who I gave my soul to. When you give your soul to God it doesn't mean you will be rich, famous, popular, or so important that people will worship you. To give your soul to God is to receive freedom from the things that have bound you mentally and physically for days, weeks, years, and decades. There were many reasons why I chose to give my soul to the Lord besides obtaining higher knowledge, but I needed to be free from the words and the physical assaults men laid on my body. I needed to be free from the fear of men and women's criticisms to keep me from thinking and creating for myself. I needed to be free from mental and physical illness. I needed to be free of everything negative that has kept me from reaching my destiny. How do you know what you are supposed to accomplish before you leave this world if you never bothered to study the word of God or ask Him.

I think people don't live up to their true potential because they have not a clue what their calling is in life nor do they care. It's unfortunate for those people who will die restless and troubled -- always chasing after things that provide them with no peace spiritually. However, for those people who know that there is something greater in living life and they are searching, may I direct you to the God of the Christian Bible who isn't affiliated with any specific religion, group, or evil occult activities. He is the God who says, "Come to me and I will give you rest."


Nicholl McGuire
http://spiritualpoems.blogspot.com

Friday, January 8, 2010

McGuire Family Book Underway for 2010


Before I die there will be many books about my life. I have made that a mission of mine simply because I want my children to hear my life's story from me and not from people who think they know me. With that said, one of the books I will be creating in 2010 is about the people who carry the same last name as me, "McGuire." My children will get the opportunity as well as those who didn't grow up around McGuires to read a bit about my father's people. They will learn about those that are dead and alive.

This book isn't an indepth study of our family lineage (which unfortunately in the past century started in slavery.) Rather this family history lesson is nothing more than a simple picture book that includes some experiences I have had with those who were still around during my childhood and some information provided by a select few. Unfortunately the man pictured below, Nicholas McGuire, had passed away before I met him. So anything I pen about him is from those who were willing to talk about him. He was in his early twenties at the time this photo was taken. His sister, Aunt Lillian, was alive during the time I was a child and never had any children. I use to mistaken her for being a white woman quite a few times. She too was in her 20s when this photo had been taken. I have no other photos of any of my grandfather's family.

Coming soon..."Growing up McGuire".

Monday, December 14, 2009

One of My Hobbies Messing with My Hair!


When I need an escape from writing, caring for children and doing other things that are considered "being responsible," I enjoy trying new things on my hair. This wet set is pretty much one of the hairstyles that have followed me through time. It is like an old friend you can't seem to get rid of even if you wanted to. I chose to rock this hairstyle for the photo shoot as a statement to those of you, including myself, who beat up on ourselves about wearing our straight hair for "certain" corporate events!

Accept me and my curly, nappy, afro, straight, puffy, frizzy, tangled hair!

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Contemporary Poetry by Nicholl

I have been submitting poetry to contests and websites for years! I have found that at 30 plus years I have grown weary of them. I have received recognition in the past and performed before live audiences, but I am looking to do more with my poetry. What exactly? I don't know. Laboring to Love an Abusive Mate and Laboring to Love Myself have both quenched my thirst a little bit. I have provided the reader with excerpts of my life in the form of poetry and then challenged readers to think about their own lives.

I don't like anyone staring at my work for too long, analyzing and then coming up with some criticism about it. I think poetry is like abstract art, let it be! Must we comment on everything we see? Must we advise, teach or have meaning to everything? There are times I just want to write. I don't want to tell you nothing more than a story, a thought and nothing more. But logical thinkers...they want to analyze everything. "What did you mean when you said...what were you trying to convey..." Then sooner or later in the conversation they are trying to tell you how you felt and what you should have done with your creation. I know logical thinkers very well because almost half of my brain thinks that way. I say almost, because the creative side of my brain, every now and then, will drown out the voice who wants to question everything.

Stop by my "once in a blue moon I think about it" poetry site below:

My Poetry at PoetryPoem.com