News — Celebrate Life
Jewelry and Value: Determining the Priceless
Posted by Lisa Johnson on
When I was in the midst of a messy divorce, one of the things my lawyer said to do was figure out all of the assets, and a biggie, he explained, was jewelry. I was told to carefully go through what I had, make a list, and figure out an estimated value of its worth. My wedding ring was a simple gold band, and I hadn’t worn it in so long that I couldn’t even remember where it was. My ex had gotten lucky: I was young and naive when we met, and had not made a big deal...
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- Tags: Body Adornment, Boyfriend, Celebrate Life, Collection, Connection, Conversation Starters, Dating, Dissolution of Long-Term Marriage, Divorce, Dress Up, Family Life, Fashion, Feel Good, Finance, Happiness, Health and Wellness, Husband Gift, Jewelry, Love, Middle Age Life, Midlife Romance, Money, Mother & Daughter, Parenthood, Parenting, Power, Present, Priceless, Relationships, Resilience, Separation, Soulmate, Valentine's Day, Value, Womens Issues
The Evolution of a Gym Rat: Instagram Envy, and How I Made Fitness A Top Priority
Posted by Lisa Johnson on
Under the guise of business, I began dipping into the waters of Instagram for the past year, and observed that anyone with posts related to exercise, workouts or hard bodies, seems to get LOADS of likes. Why do people pay so much attention to everyone else’s progress? Is it really motivating to see how far others have succeeded? In elementary school, I was a gymnast. My best friend used to tease me because I wore sweatpants to school four days a week, and owned one pair of patchwork dungarees with a parrot on back pocket (boy, do I wish...
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- Tags: Affirmation, Agility, Back Injury, Can Do, Capable, Cardio, Celebrate Life, Childhood, Connecting, Dance, Dance Party, Endurance, Envy, Family Life, Feel Good, Fitness, Friendship, Good Idea, Gym Rate, Gymnastics, Happiness, Healing, Health, Health and Wellness, Injury, Instagram, Middle Age Life, New Friends, New Year's Resolution, Parenthood, Physical Therapy, Power, Priority, Recovery, Self-Help, Share your Story, Social Activity, Social Media, Starting Over, Strength, Treating Oneself, Womens Health, Workout, YMCA
What Gets Us Through: Trauma and the Importance of Physical Strength in Healing
Posted by Lisa Johnson on
After nearly eighteen years of a fairly stable relationship, I learned that my husband had begun an affair with a girl thirty years his junior. Stunning for anyone, yes, but more so was that my partner, whose judgment I had always respected, confessed that he and the girl had actually never met. Several sites linking her to German porn made no difference; he was convinced she was his soulmate and promised to marry her within two weeks of their email correspondence. A few months into the rocky navigation of all attempts to save a doomed marriage, my son's best friend shot himself in the head...
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- Tags: Adolescent Boy, Back Injury, Bullying, Can Do, Capable, Catfish, Celebrate Life, Conflict Resolution, Connection, Dance, Delusion, Denial, Dissolution of Long-Term Marriage, Divorce, Divorce and Children, Endurance, Expert Advice, Family, Feel Good, Fitness, Friendship, Good Idea, Gym, Happiness, Healing, Hip Hop, Love, Motherhood, Moving Out, Narcissist, Parenting, Physical Strength, Physical Therapy, PTSD, Reclaim, Recovery, Relationships, Resilience, Self-Help, Separation, Sex Addiction, Starting Over, Strength, Suicide, Tough Life Decisions, Trauma, Trust, Womens Issues, Workout, YMCA
To Splurge or Not to Splurge: Drooling At the New York Renaissance Faire
Posted by Lisa Johnson on
At sixteen, the first guy I truly fell in love with took me on one of the most romantic dates ever: to the New York Renaissance Faire in Tuxedo, NY, and it has remained one of my favorite festivals of all time. He bought me a crown of flowers which I wore in my hair, on occasion, for the next ten years plus, and it always reminded me of that perfect day, long after he had disappeared. I loved everything about the early Renaissance Festivals, from the mud shows where the comedians dove into and actually consumed the wet...
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- Tags: Art Show, Catskill Mountain Moccasins, Celebrate Life, Cosplay, Craft Fair, Cultural Event, Dress Up, Fashion Show, Footwear, Great Date, Leatherwork, Medieval, Native American Craft, Outdoor Festival, Renaissance Faire, Splurge, Treating Oneself, Tuxedo New York