Tina's Words

Healthy people are aware of their emotions regarding current happenings in their lives. Have you ever been walking along doing just fine and then all of the sudden you get triggered? During what seems to be a rather normal event or conversation, emotions are suddenly VERY big! Ouch. Where did THAT come from, you wonder. This recently happened to me when I walked into the kitchen and saw my husband oiling our artisan table. We have a dining table made of reclaimed wood from old boats. It dries...

It’s that time of year again!   Being a homeschooling mom for nearly 30 years, Fall has always been my “New Year”. Even though my children are all grown and homeschooling is no longer my world, Summer's end remains my time to reset everything; holding on to what I love, and letting go of what isn’t beneficial. It is a time to begin some things fresh and move deeper into others.  This year in particular holds even more potential growth as we are all figuring out the new way of living in this...

We change. And when we change, our friendships change as well.   Sometimes it is healthy growth that creates the relationship to shift. New growth in us might mean we are no longer in need of the relationship as it is. As we grow, we learn to stand on our feet a bit more and lean toward a more healthy boundaried connection.   Or sometimes we might just simply have different needs reflective of life’s stages and living situations. What worked before, might not work anymore.    If this is the...

these two. i have known them forever. we are growing old together. they know me. they know the parts of my story that are beautiful. they know the parts of my story that are not. when my story is beautiful, we dream and laugh and eat good food together. when my story is filled with pain, they are Comfort. their words are warm and few. they sit with me and listen. they cry. they tell me they love the hell out of me. they hold me tight and don’t let go. they pull me onto the dance floor when my...

What is this work of personal growth? Is it about rejecting parts of ourselves? Is it about forcing ourselves into being something different than we are? Is it about being who others want us to be? Is it about trying to become a different personality? Sometimes we can think it is surely better to be like that person over there….than to be me. From our vantage point, it sometimes looks better. More cool. More fun. Right? But even if we try to morph our core-self, our natural tendencies and...

change is only possible when we engage our narrative of the experiences we have had in life. i grew up saying i would break the chains. i will be different. i will not be impacted by my childhood experiences. my marriage and family and future will not be bound by what i had known as a child. so i walked out. i married and left town. with 3 crockpots and $20 we embarked on our life together. we both abandoned what was behind, thinking it was as easy as that. we left to get the life we wanted....