This is what I've learned (an ongoing post)

• By selling all my belongs and practically begging people to take some of it away, I've learned that you can find what you need in thrift stores, discount stores, and online. Full price is overrated. Also, when getting rid of everything, going into a store brings a whole new perspective. You finally realize how you've always felt almost obligated to buy something until you don't 'need' anything anymore.

• Having gotten rid of 3/4 of my stuff and still filling a room with more stuff than I can handle, I've learned that you can get by with waaay less than you ever thought, and it feels good to get to the bare bones. I'm still not where I want to be in terms of only having the essentials.

• I've learned that priorities can change overnight and letting go of some things can be scary but it can be for the best.

• I've finally figured out for myself what people mean when they say "life is short". When you realize that nothing is owed to you in this life, you finally take responsibility for your future.

• After almost a year of changing my diet, I've discovered how quickly the human body will readjust to reject the stuff that is no good for us.  Before the change, I was drinking multiple caffeinated beverages a day, consuming dairy products in the form of tubs of ice cream and venti lattes, and shoveling down buckets of processed sugar. Now, when I have coffee with caffeine, even a small one makes me jittery and I don't like the way it makes my heart skip. Concerning milk, the other night I had 3 sips of a latte that the barista had mistakenly put milk into instead of soy and I immediately got a stomach ache. I had never thought of myself as lactose intolerant before, but when I got that stomach ache, it reminded me of how I often felt before the change: bloated and not as well as I've been feeling this last year. To summarize, if you can ween yourself off the bad stuff, you can really trust your body to tell you what you need and what you should avoid.

Career related. I swear...

OK, I'm realizing that this year is about random scary things occurring to me and then me getting hell-bent on doing them even though they sound crazy-balls.  For instance, going vegan. Had no interest. Thought to myself, "Let those vegans go about their own business, I'll stay over here in the cheeseburger aisle and they can stay over there in the crazy aisle and we'll all be happy."

Piñatas are definitely in the crazy aisle.

Well we all know how that ended up! Bethany watched a few documentaries and the next day? BAM, Bethany herbivore Watrous was roaming the streets.
Then it was the gluten free thing. I thought "How and why would I go gluten free? I'm already vegan. Don't take away my bread, pasta and salad dressings too." But no, because along came an article about how wheat allergies can affect one's memory.
THEN, I was cruising along with the production company, figuring I'd be settling in to that and making it a long term commitment when a spontaneous friend comes to town and reminds me how awesome not being tied down is. And the next thing I know I was selling all my possessions, moving out of my Burbank palace and telling work "I'm leaving the country. I don't know where to or for how long, but meh."
Let me just clarify that there was sheer terror the night before each BAM moment. Thoughts like "Am I seriously going to do this? Am I seriously wandering over to the crazy aisle? How am I going to do this? But most of all, why am I doing this again? It's kind of lonely in the crazy aisle and people look at you like you're one of those weird zoo animals that no one knows the name of. They don't quite know what to make of you, but they're sure it can't be good.

It's my shifty eyes, isn't it.

Seriously, was God high?

It's like there's a part of my brain that when in panic mode grumbles "alright, let's do this".

Face my fears? *sigh* Fiiiine.

So for the longest time I've believed that I should do stand-up comedy at some point in my life. Not because I aspire to or think I'd be good at it or even want to. I've just always thought, "yeah, I guess I should do that". But the thought has also always equated to sticking forks in my eyes. But I woke up yesterday with a joke in my head and instead of chortling to myself and going on with my chocolate bar breakfast, I wrote it down. And then seven more jokes came flying at me and I wrote them down too. And thus, I have a sort of stand-up routine in the works which now my brain tells me "so we should probably perform that, I guess."
So look forward to THAT, world!

Aaand It's February

Career month! I thought about changing this out, what with the plan to quit my job and wander the wilderness of the world for awhile, but I do really want these travels to help me figure out where life is leading me. I hope to write and earn some money that way, and I'm also still very interested in getting into the Peace Corps once this initial adventure runs itself out (and when I say adventure, I mean money). I've already begun working on some languages which, if I can get well versed, can really help me in different international careers I've looked into.

Also, I just had "nerdy" headshots taken because I bought a Groupon last year and never used it, so I thought "why not!"

People's eyeballs. That's why.

 
I've been learning to embrace the nerd so I think I'll see if these headshots do me any more good than my "trying-to-be-hot" headshots ever did.

Like this but without the glasses. The bigger the smile the hotter, amiright gentlemen?

So, in actuality, I think career is the perfect thing to be focusing on right now.

Goals:
• Finish Peace Corps application 
• Write everyday and practice travel writing
• Continue with language courses
• Reflect on what I really want out of life and what 'career' means to me
• Book commercial agent and rock screens around the world with hot nerdy humor

Mission accomplished? Some might say no.

January is over! Deep Sigh!

My apologies for neglecting the blog for so long! Goodness! While I was off gallivanting in the non-digital sphere, I came to the harsh realization that moving and selling most of your belongings is more stressful than you might realize. I got very sick, couldn't sell certain large items (Couch, I'm looking at you!) which meant I then had to lug them to the new place. I'm currently sleeping on the pull-out couch, while my mattress and box-spring lean against the wall waiting for the day that I can nestle into them once more. BUT I am moved in and, beyond the sleeping situation, all is good.

Since moving and selling and becoming a master-craiglist-negotiator took up most of my January, I can't say that I accomplished much toward the goal of Posture and Body Language. But if the month's goal had been move, have an abysmal garage sale, and somehow manage to get rid of 3/4s of your stuff anyway, then WIN!

Most of my possessions strewn across the yard...

Aaand everything you see came back home with me.

 

But there was a puppy, so all was not lost.