Lisa Mitchell is from Brandon and she's living with Stage 4 metastatic bone cancer. Despite not knowing how much longer she has to live, she's not letting it get the best of her.
Mitchell has created a Vlog that's available on YouTube and it showcases the fun times she's having around the province. It's also aimed to help you make some fun plans.
"At first, to be honest, I did it for me. I wasn't really concerned if one person watched it or 1000 people did," said Mitchell. "It's become very clear to me that many people enjoy what I'm doing and I think it gives people some perspective on life. A lot of people have commented and they say they love what I'm doing."
She was originally diagnosed with breast cancer back in 2014. She had surgery and radiation therapy and she thought that was the end of that. That wasn't the case as she was re-diagnosed last year, and by that time, the cancer had spread throughout her body to her liver and most of her bones.
As of today, Lisa's YouTube channel now has 213 subscribers. Her first Vlog was uploaded on January 8. Now she has five videos and she plans on keeping them coming.
"My plan is to do at least one a month," added Mitchell. "With all of my plans this summer, I think I’ll probably end up doing at least two per month. I also feel that it's important to find engaging and compelling content, no one wants to see me doing housework."
"It's really important to me to share these fun stories for people to see. There are some beautiful places around this province that some people don't even know about," she continued. "If I can have an impact on even just one person, I think I'm doing a good job."
She chose to launch her Vlog in January because that's when she was forced to stop working. She used to be a manager at a bank.
"Going from that to not working, it's a big shock on the body," said Mitchell. "I sort of lost my purpose, but doing this Vlog gives me that purpose."
A couple of Mitchell's videos include her trip to the Tim Hortons Brier in Brandon and her visiting Whiteshell Provincial Park.
Why did Lisa name her Vlog Lisa is Busy Living? Her husband came up with the name from Lisa's favourite movie, The Shawshank Redemption.
"There's a line in there that Morgan Freeman says, "You can get busy living or get busy dying," said Mitchell. “I think that's a pretty appropriate title for this."
Lisa also created the Vlog for when she's gone.
"It's always going to be there and that makes me happy," concluded Mitchell.