Among what I imagine to be a number of curious foibles of mine – or should I say, habits – is my notable affection for refreshment. I say this as a general even universal application; that is, it extends to the intellectual as well as the visceral usage. It is the obsession driven by the necessity to purify by clarifying the slate and starting anew. On the domestic level it is no more punishing than the preference for showers.  This not uncommon proclivity however can be speedily elevated to a more intense atmosphere through the influence of saunas or steam baths (accompanied by vast amounts of cold drinking water for ideal internal cleansing). At the other extreme (for example, in matters of society) the psychosis may entail a sudden (though seldom prolonged) exit from an alliance. The disorder was more tolerable – even preferable – in the exercise of my erstwhile professional obligations because I was always reviewing things from start to finish to ensure I hadn’t overlooked or forgotten something pertinent to fulfillment of the contract. I was aware of the repetition but more often than not I was rewarded with discovery or at the very least self-approbation.

The deliberate transition from one state to another is popularly performed on New Year’s Day including similarly a refreshing dip in the Atlantic Ocean by members of the Polar Bear Club. The private bent has at times a very public demonstration! My personal exhibition includes for example daily car washing – through the automatic system naturally. The fixation is ruled by a Petro-Canada seasonal car wash card which, as a further expression of my devotion to cost efficiency, I exercise with ritual adherence, rain or shine, sleet or snow.

Renewal is at times mistaken for starting over again, mere repetition (like doing the laundry). A proper refreshment involves more than just “another time”. There must be an element of change, hopefully one directed to improvement. As a logical sequence, it follows that the showcase is preceded by an obstruction or infection from which to distance oneself. It is that distancing which is the power source; or, if you will, one of the premises of the argument.

In logic, an argument requires a set of (at least) two declarative sentences (or “propositions”) known as the “premises” (or “premisses”), along with another declarative sentence (or “proposition”), known as the conclusion. This structure of two premises and one conclusion forms the basic argumentative structure.

The binary nature of life – whether captured in Aristotelian logic or daily living – is forever evident to me, simple things like in or out, on or off, do or don’t; and complicated things like love or hate, good or bad, white or black. I suspect the polarization reflects the inner conflicts which I daily confront. On an abstract level, it is recognition that while it is difficult or impossible to change things, sometimes a good cleaning is all that it takes to refresh and start over!