Fluids

This blog post may not be for those prone to strong gag reflexes and queasy stomachs. I have always relished this paradox I straddle of being a polite, thoughtful articulate speaker and being a crass, trash-talking sailor. Navigating too closely to either side is boring and doesn't suit my personality. So in the spirit of honoring my gutter side, I am going to delve into a sewer conversation in a dignified and elegant way. Or not :) Anyhow, I've been trying to exorcise a mildly evil cold since Sunday. The amount of blood, pus and mucous I have expelled or ingested is astounding. Bodies are amazing. The conventional statistic is our bodies are comprised of 80% water. Moisture is so important to maintaining homeostasis (or staying "normal") that the primary purpose of the integumentary system, which is mostly skin, is to hold in and protect all those moist organs and bodily systems. The ancient Greeks devised this system of dividing personality traits into bodily fluids: sanguine represented blood and cheerfulness, phlegmatic represented phlegm and calmness. In many different philosophical traditions we ARE our fluids. It's a powerful thought and one that I think most Americans would be gravely uncomfortable with accepting. We are a somatically phobic culture. Bodies scare the crap out of us. We need to plug this hole with a tampon. To excrete liquid waste we have to go hide behind a door, sometimes running a fan or the water faucet. Don't even get me started on poop. It's even considered embarrassing for people to cry in certain situations. Every naturally occurring bodily fluid that enters and exits the body is judged and regulated. Typically, nobody really looks at their fluid intake and outtake with curiousity. What might happen if we did? We can be so hard on ourselves for processes and substances that are often beyond our control and don't DEFINE who we are as spiritual and whole loving beings. For today, I will try and notice my fluids and see them as information from my physical body. This is infected, this is functioning normally. Whatever they reveal, they are just temporary reflections of my current physiological state. They will tell me different information in two days, ten years or when I am facing my death. Any thoughts?