Cognitive ablutions

In the bath is where I do my primary thinking. I don't have a bath every day — that's why I'm a bit dim. My cerebral activity is intermittent.

But I did have a bath this morning. 

As I watch the morning light from the peaceful water, I ask questions of the great I Am. Today, much to my relief, my anxious searching for something to fill the Great Blank of what is needed for this Sunday's worship found a leading from the Spirit. Ahhh . . . okay . . . yes . . . let's go with that.

But other than holy concerns, my mind also strolled through the Wilderness of Trivia. Today I washed my hair. I have a new bottle of shampoo. I'm excited about this, because my favourite shampoo maker has just brought out a new range, that includes probiotics. 

The skin, as you probably already know, has its own microbiome, balancing the internal microbiome of the gut which takes care of our wellbeing and cheerfulness. Washing as much as we do, and having as little contact with the earth and living beings as most of us do, our skin microbiome inevitably suffers. It has occurred to some manufacturers of toiletries that what we need is probiotics to keep the microbiome topped up. So I'm pleased and excited that my own shampoo will now include this health-giving extra boost. It will make me clean and dirty at the same time. That's sort of magic, isn't it?

So then I got to thinking, I wonder how they get the probiotics into the shampoo? What are probiotics anyway? Bacteria, n'est çe pas? Where are they sourcing the bacteria?

When people's gut microbiomes nosedive, the best remedy is the insertion into the lower bowel of a poo sample from a person with a healthy, thriving, robust gut microbiome. So . .  I wonder . . . maybe . . . has my shampoo morphed from mere sham poo to being actual poo? 

The world of cosmetics is jealous and competitive. I remember back in the day — as long ago as the early 1980s — when Animal Aid, of which I was our local branch's secretary (or treasurer or something active and positive), mounted a huge campaign against Revlon's animal testing. Not only did Revlon change its practice as a result, but so did many other cosmetics firms; 'cruelty-free' became a promotional advantage.

In the same way, I imagine that probiotic shampoo is on the brink of becoming a Thing. Ours — ours —could be the generation that leaves behind washing our hair in Shampoo in favour of lovingly massaging in Realpoo. Gosh. 

Time to get out of the bath, my microbiome fully revitalised. This Realpoo smells very nicely of lavender, which is sort of reassuring.