Lessons from Steaming

Read more @Josh Sheridan

I’ve been going to my local steam room lately. I had never been to a steam room prior to this fall, but my brother introduced me to it when he joined the YMCA with me. I have since learned that a steam room is a strange place, but a wonderful place too. I mean, where else in the world can you find a bunch of people gathering in hot humid air outside of Florida? Anyways, it has been interesting.

There are about four or five people who come to mind as central characters in the anecdotes I could tell about the steam room. They entertain me, sometimes frighten me, and often annoy me. I love them though. What I have forgotten to love though is myself.

When I can get up in the morning and look at myself in the mirror and honestly say that I am trying and striving towards something, that makes me feel loved. I took this semester off to try and strive towards something, but that something is unclear. What I am finding with each day is that it is getting harder and harder for me to look at myself in the mirror with proud eyes. They don’t love or feel proud of what they see, and I don’t feel like I can do anything about it. So instead of trying to aim for something new, I have begun to try and refine what already is.

I am missing the mark often, frequently changing things up, and moving things around to test whether they work or not. It has been challenging not always finding myself in the places I want to be, but I know I’ll get there. Life is like one big steam room after all; hot, wet, dark, and filled with people you may never get to know. I can navigate a steam room well enough though, so that must count for something, right?