Do This

I did something this morning that I want you to try. It involves combining two pleasurable things to create a pleasure that is more than the sum of its parts. Now, a hot shower is a pleasure, and a nice piece of chocolate is another pleasure. This morning before I stepped into the shower, I impulsively broke off a piece of dark chocolate and let it melt in my mouth as I melted into my shower. It was an excellent way to start the day.

Just as you are stepping into a hot shower, take a large piece of good chocolate and rest it on your tongue, nestled snugly in the arch of your palate. As you let the hot water rush over your shoulders and cascade onto your head, soaking into your hair, resist the urge to chew the chocolate. Just enjoy the sensation of its dark loveliness melting on your tongue. You can suck, but don’t bite. Soak in the pleasure of the hot water streaming over your whole body, and the chocolate softening, yielding to your tongue, and offering up its creamy sweetness shot through with notes of bitterness. Once the chocolate is almost entirely soft, and once you are thoroughly wet and relaxed, you can begin to chew what’s left of the chocolate as you get down to the business of your shower (which I will leave up to you). You could even make your shower into a triple pleasure, since a shower goes well with other delights, as Lisa and her showerhead know well.

The chocolate I chose this morning was a sizable hunk of Trader Joe’s Pound Plus Bittersweet, a very respectable dark chocolate. With a really good chocolate (say, a bar of Green and Black’s smooth Maya Gold or anything dark and Belgian), a smaller piece might do the trick. But when the goal is pure pleasure, why limit yourself? Fill up that mouth. Enjoy. And remember: chocolate is good for your teeth.