Bathed In Beauty
Why a bath will always be better than a shower. And other thoughts on the intimate and meaningful ceremony of bathing in a tub.
Sarah Hampson
A detail from “Testing The Waters” an oil painting by Korean/American artist, Kim Cogan
The other day, I came across an image of a painting, Testing The Waters, on social media. I stopped scrolling immediately – and, ahem – soaked in its beauty. Korean/American artist, Kim Cogan, had perfectly captured the exquisitely simple ritual of preparing for a bath. The woman in the painting holds a towel around her naked body and has put a hand under the bath’s tap to check the temperature of the water. Her hair is loose. A soft light comes through an un-curtained window. (I like to think it’s in an afternoon, and she’s making an escape for an hour.) Fresh white towels on a rack. Slippers kicked off on the bathmat. Bottles of bubble bath or soap sit on the edge of the bath.
I have never understood shower people, frankly.
Like standing in the rain without an umbrella.
Ugh.
A bath, on the other hand: it’s immersion in a liminal space, where you go to think, relax, and emerge reborn.