Kimberlee K.

I recently finished Jenny Jackson’s newest novel, The Shampoo Effect. And while I netted out medium on the book itself, the metaphor for which it got its name has stuck with me.

The basic definition is: if hair has already been shampooed, a second wash will lather quickly.

In the book, the core group of friends are said to have discovered this metaphor in their late teens/early twenties and attributed it to various parts of their lives.

For example, after a night of drinking, they might decide they want to start again in the morning because they’d get drunk way faster, seeing as they weren’t starting from zero.

It’s a quick lather.

But the example that really blew my mind was how our tempers and moods can be more quickly affected by people and situations we are exposed to frequently.

Whether it’s at home or work, there are likely things we don’t get the opportunity to fully rinse out of our hair, so to speak, so they maintain quick lathering tensions that hold us—or perhaps just our attitudes—captive.

And on the one hand, I think this is just a normal part of life.

There are things that will frustrate us, things that won’t go our way, and seasons that will test us to our very limits.

But on the other hand, I think we play more of a part in rinsing than we realize.

I was quick to notice how, when I’m feeling frustrated and want to decompress, I scroll. But rather than helping me rinse that tension out of my hair, it offers me a slurry of new quick lathers. Posts that push on already purple emotional bruises, and comparison traps that trigger all too familiar internal spirals.

So I’ve decided that I need a better rinse routine.

And I’m paying closer attention to what actually makes me feel refreshed. Not numbed, not checked out, but refreshed! Renewed! Closer to zero (in a good way) so that the tired frustrations and nit-picky annoyances won’t lather so quickly.

It might be doing something creative or reading on my bed; it might be calling a friend or recording an unhinged voice memo that I hope will make them laugh. Maybe it’s baking or doing a puzzle or going for a walk or watching a movie. 

There’s nothing better than that post shower feeling, and I want to better pursue that in the metaphorical sense. To truly let go of the day when it ends, so I don’t continue to live in a loop of half rinses. I want to let the good things lather and the hard things go down the drain.

And I think with that, I’ve run out of shower puns.