Showers

I remember a time when I still took baths. I think I was in elementary school. I liked to soak for a good while, and occasionally enjoyed the pleasures of a bubble bath. I loved to play until my fingers and toes were completely wrinkled from sitting in the water for too long. At the time, I remembered hearing about "showers" from classmates and thinking how adult-like they sounded. There was an air of coolness about those who took showers instead of baths. They were so mature.

However, despite their adult-ness, showers are not just a quick rinse. We see them as a time to refresh, a time to relax, a time to think, or even a time to sing. The word "shower" seems to trigger more than its fair share of emotional overtones. We think fondly of our own personal interpretation of the shower ritual whenever the word is mentioned.

Recently, I've made an effort to simplify my life and spend more time doing what's important. In the process, I've reexamined my own habits, including showers. However obvious it may be, it took this process of introspection to remind me that the purpose of a shower is to get clean. Using the focus I've developed through meditation and other means, I have changed my showers from something vague and contemplative into something swift and efficient. Once a rather passive activity of warming myself with the heated water, it has become a brisk, focused experience that serves to quicken my wandering mind.

Showers are like most things; there is no "right way" to take them. But having rethought a nearly subliminal ritual, I feel that it now serves me instead of controlling me by putting me in a pleasant, mindless state.