Amanda Billing is an actor, artist, and photographer. She has joined season two of Under the Vines playing local cop Yvonne. The former teacher also starred as Dr Sarah Potts on Shortland Street.
I feel my best when I have had a good night’s sleep, when I drink enough water, when I hug my favourite people, when I’m working purposefully and getting paid. Great hair also helps (thanks ASC Salon, if I’m allowed to name-drop my mates).
To keep fit and healthy, look, full disclosure, a lot of the time I’m inconsistent with exercise and nutrition, so I’m not going to make it sound like I actually “do” anything. But in an ideal week, I would walk to my studio often, I would do body-weight stuff and some yoga, I’d get in the ocean, and I’d eat an omnivorous diet featuring a lot of red meat, fish, dairy, and veges I can enjoy raw. There’d be ice-cold lager in there somewhere and biscuits. Plus, a trip to Ponsonby Foodcourt. Oh, and zinc and vitamin D.
To keep mentally and emotionally healthy, I do every single thing I’ve said so far. In addition, I remember to breathe. I talk about my deepest thoughts and feelings with a handful of key people in my life. I stay creative. I avoid trolls and drama on social media like the plague (are we allowed to say that now?). I watch a lot of animal videos on Instagram. I try to see the funny side of things without getting cancelled. I listen to the advice I give other people.
The best advice I’ve ever been given about life is controversial, but, “If you don’t know what to do, don’t do anything.” This is not passivity, a lack of responsibility, or about giving up. It’s acknowledging that moving forward requires an openness to something potentially unrecognisable. It implies that what you’ve done before (if you’ve been here before) hasn’t worked and you have no idea what’s really going on. It allows resolutions to problems to come from other quarters. It can help you see that a need for certainty or control could be part of your problem.