365 Inspirations—30: Hot Baths

Natural Japanese Hot Spring

"There must be quite a few things that a hot bath won't cure, but I don't know many of them."—Sylvia Plath

Yesterday I taught 6 hours at the college and had a split shift, so all I could think about when I came home was sinking into a hot, steamy bubble bath—Calgon take me away!

And that's exactly what I did! I prep my blog posts the night before, so it was a late night for me last night. 

I take baths almost every night in the winter. It's my way of unwinding and relaxing. There's something about the warm water in winter that soothes my soul. I picked up the habit of taking baths when I lived in Japan. 

Most of the Japanese people I knew when I lived there couldn't dream of going to bed without a bath. It's a big part of the Japanese culture. Whenever I'd visit a Japanese friend's house to stay the night, they'd always prepare a bath for me. It was a real ritual. They'd give me a robe and some fruit and tea and then they'd disappear while they prepared my bath. They'd often add bubbles or powder or natural minerals.

Japan is full of onsens (hot springs) and I visited over a dozen of them. At the hot springs, you are given a bathing robe (yukata) and people actually walk around the onsen grounds in a yukata and slippers. When you get to the hot springs area, most people bathe nude and the men's and women's sections are separated. It's quite the experience to go to a hot spring in Japan. 

In Korea, people in the old days used to not have bathing facilities, so many would bathe in a public bath house or "mogyogtang". The Korean style bath house is different from the Japanese experience. The Koreans have what is called a Jimjilbang (sauna). Each sauna room has different healing properties. There's usually a salt room, clay room, charcoal room, jade room, medicinal herb room and even an ice room for cooling off afterwards! There are a couple of Korean Jimjilbangs near Seattle and they are very popular. After going in several sauna rooms, you can also relax in the hot and cold pools which are segregated. My husband and I go a couple times a year and it's FREE on your birthday!

 After living in Asia for so long, baths have become a big part of my life. They go well with all the rain we have this time of year. I like to open my bathroom window a crack and listen to the rain drops while I sit in my steamy bath and drink a nice cup of herbal tea and read a book! It's heaven.

Do you like to take baths? Have you ever been to a natural hot spring or Korean spa?

365 Inspirations—Ten: Cozy Socks

"I have a huge addiction to colorful socks, because when you have an opportunity to be creative, why pass it up?"—Darren Criss

Cozy socks make a huge difference in how my day goes, especially in the winter! I don't care if the socks are all the same color or style. My sock collection is as varied as the posts I write here.

The socks in this picture hold particular meaning to me. My mother gave me these socks. I think she gave them to me for my birthday one year, but can't be quite sure. She told me they were from a little shop around where she lives and they were knitted from recycled materials, that's why they don't exactly match.

I don't care if they match or not. During the gray, cold winters we have in Seattle, it's good to have a bit of color and comfort to spice things up.

There's another reason why these socks are important to me. Last year my mother came to Seattle. She had an appointment and thought she'd stay the night at our house. In the middle of the night, we had to rush her to the emergency room because she was having a gall bladder attack. In a hurry to get out the door, my mother forgot her socks!

While waiting for the nurse, she complained that her feet were freezing. I took mine off and gave them to her. They were these socks in the picture above—the ones she had given me for my birthday.

It's amazing what something as simple as a pair of socks can do for someone. At least it gave my mother a little comfort as she waited for the nurse.

Now, whenever I put on these socks, I appreciate them even more. The colors inspire me and I like that they were handmade and that there is no other pair like them in the world. (Just as there is no other mom like mine in world.)

I think cozy socks, especially colorful socks, can be inspiring, especially on a rainy, cold day like today!

Do you like cozy, colorful, plain, short or long socks? Do you have an inspiring sock story to tell?

365 Inspirations—Three: The SUN in Seattle

"If I had to choose a religion, the sun as the universal giver of life would be my god."—Napoleon Bonaparte

When the sun shines in Seattle, the entire city is outside soaking it in. It may be 30 degrees outside, but you'll still see some people in shorts and t-shirts. People here automatically seem to equate sun with warmth because we don't see the sun all the time in these parts!

Seattle is a rainy city. But I'm happy for that too. Without the rain, we wouldn't appreciate the sun when it decides to come out.

There's no place in the world like Seattle when the sun is shining. The fresh scent of recent rains permeates the air with a pungent smell of sweetness unlike any other. It's a mix of pine and flowers.

What inspires me most about the sun is it's brightness and the life it gives to all the beings and plants on the earth. It makes me want to be bright and when we don't see the sun in Seattle for several days, I hope I can still carry that brightness within me.