News — Connecting
How The Florida Project Brought Me back to one of the greatest American Pictures
Posted by Lisa Johnson on
I am not the kind of person who’s into “stuff.” For special occasions, I like to be taken out to a funky ethnic restaurant, or even better, whisked away for a weekend. Being a December baby, the holidays push right up against my birthday. As I’d already had an awesome getaway earlier that month, I knew that another would be unrealistic, and that was fine. However, when my boyfriend, Chris, started talking about how much I would love my Christmas gift way back in October, I knew he should stop getting his own expectations up. He announced...
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- Tags: American Pictures, Artist, Awareness, Cheap Gift, Christmas, College, Connecting, Connection, Copenhagen, Danish, Denmark, Exchanging Presents, Family Life, Feel Good, Gift, Great Gift Idea, Happiness, Hitchhiker, Holiday Party, Hope, Husband Gift, Intimacy, Jacob Holdt, Knock Your Socks Off, Love, Magical, Men's Life, Middle Age Life, Midlife, Moved, Movie Show, Non-Materialistic, Photographer, Photography, Poverty, Priceless, Racism, Real Men, Recovery, Relationships, Remembrance, Resilience, Romance, Share your Story, Social Activist, Social Justice, Soulmate, Spouse, Success Story, Talent, The Florida Project, Transforming, Traveler, Trust, Urban, Wake Up, What matters, Womens Issues, You and Me
Strong Powerful Women: IVY BERKE - NONSTOP FITNESS INSTRUCTOR IN HER FIFTIES
Posted by Lisa Johnson on
This is the second in a series of blogs about strong women I know, and this month's choice is Ivy Berke, my "Cut Above" class teacher. Her fitness career has spanned more than three decades, and she manages to run her own businesses, model for Athleta, and still have boundless amounts of energy. From the first class, I noticed there was something about Ivy that glowed besides her incredibly gorgeous smile, and I had to find out what it was. You've been doing this for more than thirty years. What drew you to this career? I really did...
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Strong Powerful Women: HEATHER FLAHERTY - FEMALE BOXER, MOTHER, CHAMPION
Posted by Lisa Johnson on
This is the first in a series of blogs about strong women I know personally, and today’s obvious choice is Heather, a friend and fellow turbo sweatie. When I first started classes at the Y, I myself was going through a lot of personal trauma in the wake of my son’s best friend’s suicide, and some severe marital issues. While normally I am quick to make friends, months passed with only a casual greeting between myself and fellow gym mates. Heather was and remains the friendliest girl in our classes, and was one of the first people I...
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- Tags: Adolescence, Affirmation, Agility, Anorexia, Can Do, Capable, Celebrate Life, Champion, Character, Community Building, Connecting, Connection, Endurance, Family, Family Life, Feel Good, Female Boxing, Finding New Love, Friendship, Gym, Gym Rat, Happiness, Healing, Health, Health and Wellness, Identity, Knock Your Socks Off, Middle Age Life, Midlife Boxing, New Friends, Parenthood, Parenting, Power, Reclaim, Recovery, Relationships, Resilience, Self-Help, Self-Sufficient, Share your Story, Stamina, Starting Over, Strength, Success Story, Talent, Trauma, Womens Health, Womens Issues, Workout, YMCA
DEEPENING FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS WITH WOMEN & THEIR FATHERS AND SONS: STEP BY STEP
Posted by Lisa Johnson on
When I was little, every Sunday morning started by walking with my dad “to get the paper.” Instead of The New York Times being delivered to our house, he liked to go down to the local drugstore for it, and I would accompany him. As the eldest child, my sister still a toddler and at home with my mom, I basked in his full attention. The neighborhood I lived in was called Indian Village, and all of the streets were named after Native American tribes. Probably less for tradition and more as a deterrent for cars, almost every...
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- Tags: Adolescence, Adolescent Boy, Agility, Capable, Celebrate Life, Childhood, Connecting, Connection, Conversation Starters, Dissolution of Long-Term Marriage, Divorce, Divorce and Children, Endurance, Family, Family Life, Feel Good, Fitness, Friendship, Good Idea, Happiness, Healing, Health, Health and Wellness, Identity, Love, Men's Life, Mental Health, Middle Age Life, Motherhood, Mothering, New Year's Resolution, Parenthood, Parenting, Real Men, Reclaim, Recovery, Relationships, Relatives, Resilience, Self-Help, Social Activity, Starting Over, Suicide, Teen Identity, Tough Life Decisions, Walking, Womens Issues, Workout
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