It’s close enough to New Year’s when I could write a wonderful post using “soap” as a metaphor for the cleaning out of the old year and cultivating a willingness to forge into the new year free of attachments and clinging. Alas, this is not that post. (If that’s what you’re looking for, go to our friend Google. I’m sure there’s one out there…)

No, this is literally a post about soap. An actual bar of soap. It was my favorite bar of soap. And now it’s gone. Sniff. Pout.

It smelled so good. I remember getting it at some kind of all natural store…but I can’t remember where. Since the label has long since hit the recycling, there’s no hope of finding it elsewhere. No. My favorite bar of soap is no more. There is no way to replace it. In the indelible words of Monty Python, this soap “has drawn the curtain and joined the choir invisible. It is an ex-soap.”

The human condition is so amusing, isn’t it? When I can find myself whining “awwwwwww…” at the end of this little sudsy reminder of impermanence. What a blessing though to be given at least one shenpa that is easy to release! Now that’s a New Year’s gift I can really be thankful for.

Alas, poor Soap. I knew you well.