Tina Gasperson

When my father came to get me off the street in Altamonte Springs, I was excited about being with him. I loved my father the way only a girl could love her dad and I’d never gotten enough of him growing up since he was always traveling for business. I...

Each morning I free write for 750 words in a journal like fashion. Whatever comes out, comes out. I do this to get warmed up for working on my book. This morning’s free writing came out as a prayer. I wanted to share it, though it does make me feel...

It can be exquisitely painful to write memoir. Even writing about the good memories, the treasured times, dredges up sudden discoveries of tenderness that bring tears. It’s not the comfort zone. So my subconscious will try hard to shut me down. She tells me it’s stupid to write all this...

When my kids were younger I used to take them to Busch Gardens often. We had annual passes and BG is just down the road from us, so it wasn’t a stretch to head over for three hours in the afternoon, especially since they didn’t go to school. We’d get...

“This task was appointed to you, Frodo of the Shire. If you do not find a way, no one will.” – Galadriel* We’re all of us on our own hero’s journey. Each of us has an assignment to complete. It is our purpose. No matter how large or small this...

Is it possible that there are people out there in Internet-land who are very similar to me? Similar enough that I could completely be myself and express almost all of my opinions and there would still be a “tribe” for me? For a long time I didn’t have a concept...

In some Christian circles it doesn’t seem to be OK to love yourself. The concept of loving yourself is not a big topic of discussion in most churches, and in some churches the idea is outright condemned as heretical. I’ve heard some teachings that proclaim we are all terrible, horrible,...

The wrong train to the right place...

I was born a creative person: a bit eccentric, always hoping to fit in, searching for unconditional love. I had my first child when I was 19 and my last when I was 38. When I was 52 I finally realized that I had accomplished that “big thing” I’d always...

The older I get, the simpler life becomes. It’s not easier, but it is simpler. As I leave behind my youth, I also receive the gift of leaving behind so many things that are unnecessary: selfish desires, delusions, immature visions of “what I could be.” Stripping away all the superfluous...

There’s something about goal-setting and the subsequent purpose and direction I receive that is energizing and uplifting. When I am without purpose, drifting, or worse yet, sinking into a pit of melancholy, it’s a vicious cycle of despair. Does that sound dramatic? Well I do have my emotional funks from...

I didn’t believe I was loved and I wanted to be loved, so I looked for love outside of myself. I didn’t love myself because I didn’t believe I was lovable and I needed someone to prove to me that I was. I’m still working out how to say all...