If you walked past our bathroom in the early hours of the morning you might be forgiven for thinking that I am half asleep while leaning towards the mirror, razor in hand, chin coated with “advanced” goop (I have been trying out various shaving products).
I am not half asleep. I am containing my annoyance.
I typically spend upwards of three quarters of an hour each morning having a shower, shave, drying my hair, brushing my hair, brushing my teeth, finding fresh socks, and perhaps ironing clothes if none that are already ironed can be found in the variety of places they might be.
Why do I do all of this? Convention.
Convention says that we should not allow our bodies, or the way we present ourselves to follow the path that tens of thousands of years of evolution has prepared us for. We shave body hair. We wash natural oils from our hair and body. We scrub our teeth with various abrasive (and mildly toxic) substances. We spray chemicals onto both our face and body to change the way we smell. We cover ourselves in garments made of materials that require preparation - washing and pressing - lest we look “untidy”, and not “fit in”.
I’m not saying we shouldn’t do any of the above - I just become frustrated from time to time. In the moments after waking on a morning my first thought will often be the dread of the routine I will be expected to launch into in order to present myself to the world in a way that it expects. I wonder how many other (perhaps more useful) things I could be spending my time doing. I have no idea what these other things might be - I just feel that something is going to be more interesting, entertaining and perhaps useful than what I am doing.
How long does your “routine” take? Does it annoy you? What do you think about while doing it?