Cold Showers 12 & 13

I always wash dishes with cold water. It was perhaps my first sustained protest against comfort. I hardly notice it now and it seldom bothers me in the slightest. But every once in a while, I feel that peculiar pain that only comes from exposure to low temperatures. This happened to me the other day and it occurred to me that it was because of the continuity of exposure. It is the same thing that happens when leaving my head directly under the showerhead to get pelted with freezing water. The discomfort mounts, my body wants to pull away, my brain starts rationalizing it, and eventually I give myself permission to bail out on the operation. 

The dishwashing realization led me to step back and look at what's actually happening when I'm taking a cold shower. When I'm in there, and not subjecting the top of my head to brainfreeze endurance tests, I'm moving. Chest, legs, turn around, back, ass, neck, turn around, face, hair, turn around. 

So during the last two showers, I have been experimenting more with letting the water hit the same place for longer periods of time, settling into that changing sensation, observing it. It has led me to an obvious conclusion... The real deal cold shower isn't a shower at all. The real deal is submerging yourself in a body of cold water. That way, there is no turning away and there are less discomfort mitigating tricks you can play. 

I have no idea where I could make that happen at the moment, but it's on the bucket list.

Playlist additions for showers 12 and 13:

- Request Denied by El-P

- Drones over Bklyn by El-P

- Propaganda by The Slackers

- Rider by The Slackers

See the complete Spotify Cold Shower Playlist here.