Before I get into this, I understand that you may or may not share my fancy for potty humor. That's ok. I'm used to laughing at my own jokes and sound effects. Barring any unforeseen drinking in the next few minutes, I promise not to veer into any of that during this post. I'll keep it clean, so-to-speak.

Clotaire Rapaille advised The Ritz Carlton to start with premium toilet paper in their efforts to revamp the brand experience. In somewhat the same spirit, this site's new color and tile makeover was inspired entirely by a half-second glance at the bathroom tile in Hula Hut's men's room, yesterday afternoon.

As a principle, I always carry a Moleskine and a Papermate on my personage unless I'm showering. I've journaled, ideated and brainstormed during my sitting-and-thinking times. And I find that the specific solitude afforded by the context of the water closet meets my needs for creative outlet. It offers solitude and a focused purpose with brevity.

Meditate with me, if you will, on the manifold benefits - of which I'll comment on three - introduced into our conscious lives through the experience of using the restroom.

Solitude

I experience most of my life with other people. I'm husband. Have been for nearly fourteen years. Yes, I married a seven year-old from Romania. I'm a dad. Got three kids. My life flows in small concentric circles. Home, Work, baseball field, church, Walmart, Goodwill store.

Solitude is precious because it's rare. I understand my life-choices make it rare and I don't regret it's rarity. I prefer it to an overabundance of solitude.

Being alone, or at least outside of my circles of habit, creates small pockets of solitude. and that influences my thought patterns. I notice different types of things. I think in different patterns. I've read about creativity and how some folks recommend change as a catalyst to creative thought. I find that routine provides one brand of creative thought and a brief shift from routine provides another. 

Focused Purpose

Limitations are the new black.

Escape from Alcatraz and Shawshank Redemption are among my favorite movies. Each exudes irony by contrasting the simple, small and constant means and methods of the escapees versus the complex, enormous and inconsistent systems of the captors and guards.

I become instantly productive when I limit myself to one task and finish it.

Brevity

Last year, I began training for strength and manly beauty. I write about it, occasionally at flatgut.com. After a few months of testing various types of exercise, I found a way that works well for me. It's called High Intensity Training or HIT.The basic premise is that short bursts of effort stimulate muscular growth and leanness more significantly than prolonged activity. The author cites African lions as a basis for the premise. The male lions eat, sleep, fight and mate. (What a life!) Ahem. The females do everything else. Cook. Clean. Keep house and hunt. Ironically, the males are much larger in mass and strength. Considering the activity patterns of African lions apart from any other variable, it's interesting to note the difference in outcome.

The coalescence of focussed effort in short, lonely bursts is nothing new. We do it every time we use the restroom. Now, I'm wondering how taking this behavior pattern and swapping contexts would effect productivity (no metaphors please) and creative outcome in those contexts.

I'll have to sit and think about it.