It's finally dawned on me that I shower much less than most. All things considered, I average about 1 shower every week or two. It got me thinking. Why is this seemingly normal and mainstream thingy, showering, such a hardship for Aspie me? Here goes:
Not showering tends to keep people away. Just sayin'. I'm not looking for anyone to randomly start chatting with me at length; not looking for a date or to listen to someone else's issues. It helps make people leave me alone.
Ha, personal space. It does allow me a great amount of personal space. People aren't drawn to me and that is often a good thing. Almost like a layer of weird, smelly armor, you know?
It's time consuming. I have to stop everything else that I am doing. I have to stop my wanderlust, daydreaming and incessant thinking. It's a distraction.
I have to plan the shower. What am I going to change into?
I need to check the time so that my hair gets dry before I go to bed.
I make sure the front door is locked.
The bath towel is hung over the shower rod so that I can easily reach it to dry my face. I use it frequently to dry my face soon after it gets splashed. I double dry if I think I have any hair product erroneously came near my eyes. I use the towel, also, to get any stray water that has egregiously made it into my ears. Don't like it.
I've been in this new apartment about a year now. The tub drain is this crazy "toe tap" thingy whereby you push down on the stopped to close and then push again for the drain to open. It's a bit of a crazy, newfangled strange thingy that still makes me stop, think and give it the stink eye. it does boggle my brain to no end.
There is this whole getting naked thing. Not crazy about it. Showering is the only time I ever get completely naked. Naked always has felt highly vulnerable and I avoid it as much as possible.
I fiddle with the water temperature to make sure it is as close to right as possible.
Once in the tub, double check the shower curtain to make sure the openings are covered. Don't want to get water on the floor.
Next, I'm required to get completely wet. Sensory Overload to the max. I swear, I can feel each and every droplet of the thousand drop deluge. I'm not used to the touch, the feel of water on my skin, In So Many Places. Honestly, I think Sensory Overload is my biggest reason for taking so few showers.
In the shower each step is planned: wet hair, shampoo, rinse, conditioner, apply soap to various body areas, rinse thoroughly.
The sound of the shower is really kind of loud. I mean, you can't hear anything outside of it. Can't hear if the phone rings or someone's at the door, or if someone is calling for you. It's a closed and highly contained environment. It's like I have to voluntarily cut myself off from the rest of the world to get washed up.
I have to measure out the correct amount of shampoo and conditioner. It's like I have a specific formula for what works. I can't automatically just dispel the stuff like some do. Every single thought out, preapproved and followed through. Any deviation, accidently dispersing too much shampoo for instance, kind upsets me; it throws me off.
Oh, and eyes are to be tightly shut with all the hair stuff. At least a half dozen times, as I've applied the shampoo or conditioner, a stray hair full of goo has gotten loose and struck me in the eye. Getting shampoo or conditioner in eyes is a very big thing that I consciously work to avoid each shower.
I have to double and triple check that I get all the hair goop rinsed out, especially from behind the ears. That's where it seems to hide the easiest.
I make sure I can feel that all the soap has been rinsed off completely as well.
End of shower, I kind of rush out. I don't take the time to dry each and every body part. Rather, it's hard for me to slow down enough to do that appropriately. I'm usually half wet.
I remember that I have always had difficulty drying off. For some reason, up until high school, I just didn't towel off. it didn't make sense in my head for some reason, Or I didn't like the brisk, bristly feel of the towel. Oh, I guess I thought that toweling off would make me colder faster. Cause I remember my friend in high school asking me why I didn't dry off after my shower in gym. I did tell her that I thought it would make me cold. She said it was just the opposite. From thenceforth, I tried her method, toweling off and found that she was indeed correct. I just didn't know any better.
Showering is such a big disruption for me. It's interesting to finally write down some of the reasons I've always found it to be such a bother.
Not showering tends to keep people away. Just sayin'. I'm not looking for anyone to randomly start chatting with me at length; not looking for a date or to listen to someone else's issues. It helps make people leave me alone.
Ha, personal space. It does allow me a great amount of personal space. People aren't drawn to me and that is often a good thing. Almost like a layer of weird, smelly armor, you know?
It's time consuming. I have to stop everything else that I am doing. I have to stop my wanderlust, daydreaming and incessant thinking. It's a distraction.
I have to plan the shower. What am I going to change into?
I need to check the time so that my hair gets dry before I go to bed.
I make sure the front door is locked.
The bath towel is hung over the shower rod so that I can easily reach it to dry my face. I use it frequently to dry my face soon after it gets splashed. I double dry if I think I have any hair product erroneously came near my eyes. I use the towel, also, to get any stray water that has egregiously made it into my ears. Don't like it.
I've been in this new apartment about a year now. The tub drain is this crazy "toe tap" thingy whereby you push down on the stopped to close and then push again for the drain to open. It's a bit of a crazy, newfangled strange thingy that still makes me stop, think and give it the stink eye. it does boggle my brain to no end.
There is this whole getting naked thing. Not crazy about it. Showering is the only time I ever get completely naked. Naked always has felt highly vulnerable and I avoid it as much as possible.
I fiddle with the water temperature to make sure it is as close to right as possible.
Once in the tub, double check the shower curtain to make sure the openings are covered. Don't want to get water on the floor.
Next, I'm required to get completely wet. Sensory Overload to the max. I swear, I can feel each and every droplet of the thousand drop deluge. I'm not used to the touch, the feel of water on my skin, In So Many Places. Honestly, I think Sensory Overload is my biggest reason for taking so few showers.
In the shower each step is planned: wet hair, shampoo, rinse, conditioner, apply soap to various body areas, rinse thoroughly.
The sound of the shower is really kind of loud. I mean, you can't hear anything outside of it. Can't hear if the phone rings or someone's at the door, or if someone is calling for you. It's a closed and highly contained environment. It's like I have to voluntarily cut myself off from the rest of the world to get washed up.
I have to measure out the correct amount of shampoo and conditioner. It's like I have a specific formula for what works. I can't automatically just dispel the stuff like some do. Every single thought out, preapproved and followed through. Any deviation, accidently dispersing too much shampoo for instance, kind upsets me; it throws me off.
Oh, and eyes are to be tightly shut with all the hair stuff. At least a half dozen times, as I've applied the shampoo or conditioner, a stray hair full of goo has gotten loose and struck me in the eye. Getting shampoo or conditioner in eyes is a very big thing that I consciously work to avoid each shower.
I have to double and triple check that I get all the hair goop rinsed out, especially from behind the ears. That's where it seems to hide the easiest.
I make sure I can feel that all the soap has been rinsed off completely as well.
End of shower, I kind of rush out. I don't take the time to dry each and every body part. Rather, it's hard for me to slow down enough to do that appropriately. I'm usually half wet.
I remember that I have always had difficulty drying off. For some reason, up until high school, I just didn't towel off. it didn't make sense in my head for some reason, Or I didn't like the brisk, bristly feel of the towel. Oh, I guess I thought that toweling off would make me colder faster. Cause I remember my friend in high school asking me why I didn't dry off after my shower in gym. I did tell her that I thought it would make me cold. She said it was just the opposite. From thenceforth, I tried her method, toweling off and found that she was indeed correct. I just didn't know any better.
Showering is such a big disruption for me. It's interesting to finally write down some of the reasons I've always found it to be such a bother.
