As if I needed further proof that you can teach an old dog new tricks and that people really can and DO change, I find myself munching on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich pondering the time of day I plan on eating my snack of banana and unsalted trail mix while making sure to drink plenty of water.

It sort of makes me laugh to myself. There were two things I pretty distinctly hated all of my life (even before being a vegetarian) and they were bananas and ham. On top of loathing those two foods, I pretty strongly hated water and nearly refused to drink it and as a child never ate (because I had a serious dislike for) peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I could only eat pb & butter, or pb & honey…but never pb & j.

Oh yeah, and let’s not forget that the only peanut butter I liked was a high sugar content one, like Peter Pan Creamy. I didn’t do crunchy (and still probably won’t) but now the peanut butter I’m eating is Skippy’s ‘Natural’. It has no hydrogenated oils and the ingredients are as follows: roasted peanuts, sugar, palm oil, and salt. Now, I understand that palm oil is higher in saturated fat than some other vegetable oils, but you know what? It’s still better than regular peanut butter and I think that’s significant. I can only focus on so many food changes at a time anyway right?

What I’m driving at here is that in life we (hopefully) are on a constant quest of growing and maturing and become better versions of ourselves. In growing we should be open to at least the idea of trying new things. It’s not always easy, and life often times gets in the way or clogs our learning processes or we become distracted, but hopefully we can return to an open state of being.

I know for myself that sometimes I am slow to change, but my personality is such that I embrace change in many ways. I’m always seeking ways to keep things fresh and new and different while still keeping certain aspects of my life very constant and consistent and relatively unchanged. It’s an interesting balance to try to obtain.

I’m convinced this is why I’m interested in so many various activities, hobbies and career choices. I’m not one to stick around one place for too long usually. Movie sets are perfect for someone like me…or teaching. You’ve got anywhere from one week to six months working with a particular group of people, then it all changes. Perhaps the shoot ends and post begins, or the semester comes to an end and new students come in.

In either case, I’m excited to see that despite my own fears and concerns I’m still willing (if sometimes pushed) into trying new things and retraining myself to like what once I might have *hated*.

Now I’m not saying I LOVE bananas or anything. But I do have a serious respect for the fruit seeing how beneficial it is to me and all, and it does taste GREAT in bread. I’m pretty sure I’ll never get into the artificial banana flavoring like in candies just as I will never be able to stomach anything “grape” flavored. But I think that is alright. I’ve tried them and they make me feel nauseous. Those will definitely remain constants in my world of growing and changing, and in such a world, we need our constants.