bathroom_soul Q Several years ago I gave a lecture on the medieval idea that the world is a book to be read. ... Afterward a housewife, who had attended, telephoned to ask if I would come to her house to read it in this way... Together we walked through the rooms, observing them closely, and quietly discussed our impressions. This "reading" was not an analysis or an interpretation. It was more "dreaming the house onward," to paraphrase an expression of Jung's - "dreaming the dream onward."... to see the house's poetry and alphabet, to understand the gestures it was making in its architecture, colors, furnishings, decorations, and the condition it was in at that particular moment... Some of the images that came to us were personal. I heard stories of a former marriage, children, visitors, her own childhood. Others had to do with the building's architecture and with American history, and a few touched on philosophical questions about the very nature of dwelling and shelter. I remember in particular an immaculate bathroom with smooth tiles and cool colors. The bathroom is a room full of strong imagery and psychological content - bodily waste, cleansing, privacy, cosmetics, clothing, nudity, pipes connected to the underground, and running water. It is a favored setting for many dreams, an indication of its special appeal to the imagination. This bathroom seemed to me unusually orderly and clean, and having agreed to an honest reading of the house, we discussed the efforts my hostess put into keeping this room spotless. In this reading of her house,... [w]e were simply taking a special look at the house in order to glimpse signs of the soul that lies hidden in the everyday and commonplace. At the end of our tour, we both felt unusually connected to the place and to its things. For my part, I was motivated to reflect on my own home and to think more deeply about the poetics of everyday life. From Chapter 9, "The Economics of Soul: Work, Money, Failure and Creativity," in Thomas More, "Care of the Soul: A Guide for Cultivating Depth and Sacredness in Everyday Life" (1992). 000305 ... amy explaining my dreams night before last where i went around taking showers in various places? they were more like public bathrooms. while i was showering, i told a girl that i always used my own private shower. the shower curtain fell off the hooks and some attendant guy helped me put it back. 000305 ... brett singing aretha in the shower 000307 what's it to you? who go blather from