I always take a shower in the evening, before bed. I like to be clean before hitting the sack, and the shower does the trick nicely. I’m luxurant about it. I take my time, shampoo and condition; make sure I’m clean from ass to tea kettle. It’s nice, one of the daily rituals that keeps me on an even keel.
The paradox is that it’s an energy boost. Right now, a few moments before I get in the shower, I’m fatigued. My eyes are heavy and my attention span is short. My tolerance for humanity, even shorter. I’ll come out of the steam in high spirits. Now it’s nice to go to sleep feeling happy, but it doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to know it probably prolongs the process of arriving at a dreamscape.
Now I can sleep sans shower, and I often do when I’m out in nature. There it doesn’t molest me nor leave me feeling dirty. Here, in the sweet sterility of my domestic domain, I do feel dirty if I haven’t washed off the day’s dirty and grime before crawling between the sheets. It helps keep the sheets clean and nice too. Supposedly it’s good for the skin- though I am far from an expert on that.
The crux is that I also take a shower when I wake up, and that gives me my initial boost of daily energy. The cobwebs of sleep fall away quickly and I am able to start my morning well when that water greets my face. I like to round it out with some cold water, cold as she’ll go, right at the end to shove my now frigid ass out into the world to get done what I need to.
Perhaps it is this cross purpose, to relax before sleep and to jolt awake, being demanded of the same activity that crosses the wires. Not sure. Maybe it is what I do around those times, in relation to the shower, that sets me wrong.
Either way, I’ve always loved a good shower. Never to be done at length or in excess, but to be enjoyed in brief style. I take pride in the efficiency of my movements and in the order that I have down to get myself clean. Mornings its shampoo in, soap cover, brush teeth, mouth wash, rinse everything, with the water getting progressively colder between each step, and a few seconds- long as I can handle honestly, at real fucking cold. Evenings I add. Soft pick teeth before the shower, then shampoo, soap up, rinse, conditioner, brush teeth, mouthwash, rinse. I’m quick and efficient either way. And I emerge clean and happy either way.
I have no idea if my shower habits are good, as refined and precise as they are. I might have just perfected the perfect solution to the wrong question. Not sure if the way I do things is best in an overarching way, despite their effectiveness in focus. Perhaps I’ll vary it up. Fuck it, why not.
For now, though, the gentle mist calls.
