By Robertha Green Gonzalez
We often hear the phrase “in vino veritas” — in wine, there is truth. The idea is pretty seductive, isn’t it? If we drink enough, the barriers of social convention supposedly fall away, leaving us with the raw honesty of our words. But is this really the case? Are the thoughts that surface after a few drinks genuinely revealing, or do we merely use alcohol as a socially sanctioned excuse to voice impulses we would otherwise suppress?
Consider the other classic venue of unfiltered thought: the shower. Here, with soap running down our arms and nowhere to go, we ruminate freely. Unlike alcohol, which loosens inhibition, the shower provides a kind of safe space, a meditative environment. Many of us even have a specific shower ritual, whether it is lighting candles or indulging in the suppressed dream of eating an orange in the shower to mimic a monkey in the rainforest. The shower provides a sort of liquid courage for the mind rather than the body. And the thoughts that emerge? Often absurd. Occasionally brilliant. Sometimes they touch the deepest emotions we have neglected to name.
So which is more truthful?
Drunk thoughts can reveal hidden desires or confessions, yes, but they are also prone to exaggeration, misjudgment, and the occasional lapse in moral compass. I know, for one, that any confession of genuine importance I have tried to make while drunk has led to a slightly messier but much soberer conversation the following morning. A risky confession under the influence may feel like honesty, but it can just as easily serve as a convenient scapegoat for impulses better left unspoken. We cloak these moments in in-vino-veritas to legitimise choices that might otherwise feel reckless.
Shower thoughts, on the other hand, are well formed, introspective, and strangely intuitive. The mind is free from social constraints, yet it is not clouded by chemical distortions. The bizarre ideas that surface mid lather are often weird at first. Who has not stared at shampoo and thought, ‘If my crack were horizontal as opposed to vertical, would my cheeks clap when I went up the stairs?’ Yet among the absurdities lie occasional moments of profound insight. Here, the mind is raw but refined, emotional but clear. Take, for instance, the fact that we tend to replay conversations or scenarios in the shower. Our imagined responses are always far better articulated, so surely, by that logic, the same goes for the more emotional breakthroughs we make in the shower.
The difference may be subtle. Alcohol reveals what we feel, but shower time reveals what we think and what we truly feel in tandem. Liquid courage is effective for the body, but perhaps liquid body wash is the more emotionally intuitive elixir, offering a rare clarity that being absolutely hammered simply cannot match.
Featured Image: Ella Wimer