Renew, Release, Refresh: Tips to Up-Level Your Life This Spring

Renew, Release, Refresh: Tips to Up-Level Your Life This Spring

by Lauren Jonik Living in the northeastern US, Spring always feels especially welcome. The cold, snowy days of March transform into the rainy days of April. The hardness of the once frozen ground slowly gives way to softness. But, in order for the flowers to bloom, they must grow through mud, up, up, up towards the sun, towards where the light and warmth are. The metaphor is not lost on me: growth is sometimes hard, sometimes, messy, but as I…

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Life begins at 50, and age doesn’t define me

Life begins at 50, and age doesn’t define me

by Gretchen Hanson I have always hated my birthday. Not just hated, loathed, with a deep visceral anathema that is far more complicated than sheer vanity. And before you even ask, no, it is not obscenely old and I don’t look too much off what you would probably guess if you were being kind. I don’t hail from an age where a lady never said how old she was, or only appeared in the paper three times in her life….

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Don’t call me ‘mate,’ and other notes from an Australian

Don’t call me ‘mate,’ and other notes from an Australian

by Marissa Price Aussies are often a misunderstood breed. When we travel overseas, we seem to be a bit of a novelty with delighted locals often throwing out the “Can you just say ‘G’day mate’ for me?” The 24.13 million Australians who populate our beautiful country are just as complicated as people from all over the world with our own issues, worries and concerns. As a whole, we’re seen as a happy-go-lucky, quick-witted bunch who enjoy a beer at a…

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The Stories We Become: Tips for Tracing Your Genealogical Roots

The Stories We Become: Tips for Tracing Your Genealogical Roots

by Lauren Jonik Family—blood or chosen—helps us to orient in the world and find our place by understanding not only where we come from, but where we have the potential to go. My passion for genealogy was ignited on a rainy day in my 10th year. My grandmother and aunt had prepared a booklet listing all of the relatives and ancestors dating back to my great-grandparents. Suddenly, my Irish, German and Polish heritage took on a new dimension. I began…

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Charlottesville: a call to action for white women

Charlottesville: a call to action for white women

by Gretchen Hanson I didn’t plan to be heading south towards Charlottesville, Virginia after the alt-right demonstration this past August. But I didn’t try to change my plans either. I am possessed simultaneously with contradictory personal gifts. I am a profound chaos magnet, but also the recipient of amazing travel karma. This has been manifested throughout my life by allowing me to be smack dab in the midst of the most dramatic political upheavals on the planet without ever being…

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