As a kid it was the norm that we could only eat out if the restaurant had grilled cheese. That was about the only thing I would eat. Oh and peanut butter. To say I was a picky eater was putting it lightly. Now I love my mom, but cooking is not one of her strengths which was fine by me because she could cook about five different meals and that was about all I would actually eat. (I am sure she could actually cook more than that, but again-I was a picky eater) This trend continued for most of my time living at home. And then I graduated and moved to college and one day just decided I wasn’t going to be a picky eater anymore. I am not sure what brought it on, except that I vaguely remember trying something I swore I hated and actually liking it. That was it. The turning point, which isn’t much of a turning point considering I don’t actually remember it. However, I did start trying new things and developing a liking for spicy foods and ethnic foods and well, food in general. I never really think much about it anymore because I will try pretty much anything once and I actually like a lot of different foods. It isn’t until someone points it out that I notice. So at work today we got free food from my favorite restaurant here. It was awesome. And part of the free food was humus. Which is one of my favorite things. I was sitting back in the kitchen during lunch and one of the other employees comes in and sees me eating it and goes, “You aren’t a picky eater are you?” to which I casually respond, “nope.” It wasn’t until after she left that I started thinking about not only that change, but some of the many changes I have gone through in the past several years.
I suppose I am still me at the core, but sometimes I stare at a person in the mirror I hardly recognize. And after living abroad for a year and transitioning back home, some of those changes are becoming more and more apparent. Such as:
I love to try new things. This I suppose does not make me that unusual except that I am finding more and more that people are pretty content to go with life as usual. They eat at the same places, do the same things, have the same friends-none of which is bad, but I love to try new things. New food, new places to eat, new things to do, new adventures, meeting new people. I love it. It keeps life interesting. And now that I am land-locked in southern Indiana, I am going to have to be increasingly creative in my attempt to try new things and keep diversity in my life.
I have become a lot more open-minded. After traveling the world, spending way too many hours in airports, and spending holidays in exotic places like Bali, my mind has become like a sponge. I want to learn more and experience more and live more and see more. I feel like this whole new world was opened to me of cultures and ways of doing things and ways of thinking. Sure, I am still solid about my core, but so much of the fringe has become less important. I am becoming more free in my thinking. This I believe is a positive change. It allows me to interact with people I may have otherwise never talked to. It allows me to appreciate the beauty in others who are drastically different than me. And it keeps me grounded in a world that seems to be increasingly spinning out of control.
I am way more passionate about way bigger things. Talk to me for 15 minutes and I will probably bring up human trafficking. Give me a little longer and I will tell you about my friends in Africa living without electricity. Poverty. AIDS. Human trafficking. The environment. Sustainable resources. Shopping responsibly. Yep. All things that I am crazy passionate about. Some of them more than others, but get me going and man can I get fired up. I have always been a passionate person. I like this term better than drama queen. I tend to over-react I know, but it’s just because of all the passion inside. 🙂 I get so angry about the injustice in this world and I am devoted to fighting it every chance I get.
Lastly, I am starting to be able to define who I am as a person, what I want, and where I am going. This is giving me all kinds of confidence I have never really had. As I grow up, or attempt to do so without actually growing up, I am realizing more and more who I am and who I want to be. What I want people to see when they look at me and what I see when I look in the mirror. And let me tell you, the confidence factor is getting a major boost. I love my job, I love my friends, I love where I am (most of the time), I am getting rid of my glasses for good next week, and for the first time in a long time, seem to have conquered my evil foe Acne. All of that causes me to walk taller, stand straighter, and stop fading into the background. I know I have things to say, I know I am qualified and competent. And who cares that no one of the opposite gender has figured that out yet, I am who I want to be and I am where I am supposed to be and at the end of the day, I rang in 2011 in Bali with a triathlete I had never met and a physic who was double my age. Try to top that:)
So while I do still love grilled cheese, I would much rather go out for sushi. Or maybe Indian food.
