With reflection there is always distortion involved
Baths are typically a therapeutic endeavor. You sink into the warm water to relieve both physical and emotional stress or strain- an aquatic escape: “Calgon take me away!” But if the tub were filled with something other than water it would be a completely different experience.
A few years ago I was dealing with multli-generational trauma in which the men in my life: my father, my husband, and my son were all sick: cancer and addiction. Both my father and my son have since died. I lost my husband. I was in a state of near constant stress taking care of my family. It reminded me of being in labor- having regular contractions in which there are periods of extreme pain followed by a brief respite but coupled with the knowledge that pain or some other indignity: courtrooms, ICU’s, relapse, were inevitable.
I couldn’t relax. Felt like I was in a constant emotional writhing. I imagined myself in a tub of frogs: slimy, jumpy, noisy, grotesque. Somehow imagining myself in a tub of frogs was such a funny image it made me feel better. Humor is one of the pressure valves of my life as is seeing the world in unexpected and beautiful ways amidst the cruelty of human frailty. When people think of metamorphosis they usually imagine colorful butterflies but frogs, too, transform completely. Out of the well of my despair I found an image that not only made me laugh but comforted me as well.