BORN A CRIME

 

" When you shit, as you first sit down, you're not fully in the experience yet. You are not yet a shitting person. You're transitioning from a person about to shit to a person who is shitting. You don't whip out your smartphone or a newspaper right away. It takes a minute to get the first shit out of the way and get in the zone and get comfortable. Once you reach that moment, that's when it gets really nice.

It's a powerful experience, shitting. There's something magical about it, profound even. I think

God made humans shit in the way we do because it brings us back down to earth and gives us humility.

I don't care who you are, we all shit the same. Beyoncé shits. The pope shits. The Queen of England shits.

When we shit we forget our airs and our graces, we forget how famous or how rich we are. All of that goes away.

You are never more yourself than when you're taking a shit. You have that moment where you realize, This is me. This is who I am. You can pee without giving it a second thought, but not so with shitting. Have you ever looked in a baby's eyes when it's shitting? It's having a moment of pure self-awareness. The outhouse ruins that for you. The rain, the flies, you are robbed of your moment, and nobody should be robbed of that. Squatting and shitting on the kitchen floor that day, I was like, Wow.

There are no flies. There's no stress. This is really great. I'm really enjoying this. I knew I'd made an excellent choice, and I was very proud of myself for making it. I'd reached that moment where I could relax and be with myself. Then I casually looked around the room and I glanced to my left and there, just a few feet away, right next to the coal stove, was Koko.

It's a powerful experience, shitting. There's something magical about it, profound even. I think

God made humans shit in the way we do because it brings us back down to earth and gives us humility.

I don't care who you are, we all shit the same. Beyoncé shits. The pope shits. The Queen of England shits.

When we shit we forget our airs and our graces, we forget how famous or how rich we are. All of that goes away.

You are never more yourself than when you're taking a shit. You have that moment where you realize, This is me. This is who I am. You can pee without giving it a second thought, but not so with shitting. Have you ever looked in a baby's eyes when it's shitting? It's having a moment of pure self-

Lead aarones the outhouse ruins that for you The rain, the lies you are robbed of your moment and

nobody should be robbed of that. Squatting and shitting on the kitchen floor that day, I was like, Wow.

There are no flies. There's no stress. This is really great. I'm really enjoying this. I knew I'd made an excellent choice, and I was very proud of myself for making it. I'd reached that moment where I could relax and be with myself. Then I casually looked around the room and I glanced to my left and there, just a few feet away, right next to the coal stove, was Koko.

It was like the scene in Jurassic Park when the children turn and the T. rex is right there. Her eyes were wide open, cloudy white and darting around the room. I knew she couldn't see me, but her nose was starting to crinkle she could sense that something was wrong.

I panicked. I was mid-shit. All you can do when you're mid-shit is finish shitting. My only option was to finish as quietly and as slowly as I could, so that's what I decided to do. Then: the softest plop of a little-boy turd on the newspaper. Koko's head snapped toward the sound.

"Who's there? Hallo? Hallo?!"

I froze. I held my breath and waited.

"Who's there?! Hallo?!"

I kept quiet, waited, then started again.

"Is somebody there?! Trevor, is that you?! Frances? Hallo? Hallo?"

She started calling out the whole family. "Nombuyiselo? Sibongile? Mlungisi? Bulelwa? Who's there? What's happening?"

It was like a game, like I was trying to hide and a blind woman was trying to find me using sonar.

Every time she called out, I froze. There would be complete silence. "Who's there?! Hallo?!" I'd pause, wait for her to settle back in her chair, and then I'd start up again.

Finally, after what felt like forever, I finished. I stood up, took the newspaper which is not the quietest thing_ and I slowwwwwly folded it over. It crinkled. "Who's there?" Again I paused, waited.

Then I folded it over some more, walked over to the rubbish bin, placed my sin at the bottom, and gingerly covered it with the rest of the trash. Then I tiptoed back to the other room, curled up on the mattress on the floor, and pretended to be asleep. The shit was done, no outhouse involved, and Koko was none the wiser.

Mission accomplished.

​

[...]

​

That night I felt terrible. Before bed, I quietly prayed, "God, I am so sorry for all of this. I know this was not cool." Because I knew: God answers your prayers. God is your father. He's the man who's there for you, the man who takes care of you. When you pray, He stops and He takes His time and He listens, and I had subjected Him to two hours of old grannies praying when I knew that with all the pain and suffering in the world He had more important things to deal with than my shit."

​

​

by Trevor Noah

​

​

If you have not read or listen the author read it to you. I urge you to.

​

How is your bowel movement?

I used to suffer severe bouts of constipation in my 20s & 30s. It was truly painful.

Yoga, relaxation, drinking plenty of water, meditation, eating a healthy diet, breathing deeply and laughing have been some important allies to my discharging activity. Because of all the pain I endured from long periods of holding in, regardless of the amount of good food I are, hoping it would help push itself out with quantity (good excuse for me to eat more as I love to eat), I worship discharging as one of the most sacred daily act of health and sanity.

​

​

The book from which the quotes are from one of my favorite as it made me cry, cringe and laugh deeply. We share Swiss roots.