DR. WALLACE: I'm a bit embarrassed to admit this, but I'm a 19-year-old male and I take regular bubble baths. It used to be that I would hop in and out of the shower regularly like almost everyone else seems to do, but since I'm a very imaginative and creative person, I would sometimes stay in the shower longer because I was coming up with ideas and even at times singing and creating new songs in the shower.

I had been doing some reading on how much water is wasted during a shower that runs too long, so just for a change of pace, I decided to take a bubble bath one day more as a water conservation effort than anything else. But what I discovered was that I'm able to really get my creative juices flowing while relaxing in a hot bathtub after I have done all the cleaning and scrubbing I need to complete. I just lean back, close my eyes and think, and a lot of great ideas come to me. So many that I need to keep my cellphone handy so that I can record some of the ideas, and that's much easier to do in a bubble bath than in a shower.

Do you think it's strange for a grown adult male to sit in bubble baths every day for up to an hour? I don't always stay in there that long, but my average time is definitely 30 minutes or slightly more. I thought I would check with you before I discuss this with my friends, as I'm pretty self-conscious about it at this point, and nobody really knows this is my new creative method. — My Imagination Lights Up in the Bath, via email

MY IMAGINATION LIGHTS UP IN THE BATH: It's absolutely not a problem! If this is your best method, so be it. You're still attending to your hygiene, conserving water and enjoying some relaxation alongside your creative sessions. And remember, you can decide to share your creative secret with friends or simply keep it to yourself for now. There are many ways to do routine things in life, and you've stumbled into a new one that works uniquely for you, so I send you kudos for your creativity.

I'M NOT SURE IF IT WAS ACTUALLY A COMPLIMENT OR NOT

DR. WALLACE: The other day at my high school, someone who I respect a lot gave me what I think was a compliment. This person told me that I have a "tranquility that shines from within." I simply said thanks in the moment, because it was a brief encounter, but now that there's some distance between when it was said to me and now, I'm trying to figure out if that was actually a compliment or not.

One potential reason why I think it might not be a compliment is that tranquility coming from inside of me might be meant to imply that I'm potentially too passive for my own good. That could be one interpretation, correct? Anyhow, I've never heard of such a phrase put together in that way, and I thought it was an odd grouping of words to be used for a straight-up compliment. What do you think? — First Took It as a Compliment, Now Not So Sure, via email

FIRST TOOK IT AS A COMPLIMENT, NOW NOT SO SURE: I indeed take it as a strong straight-up compliment and feel because it is an unusual grouping of words that you may be overthinking it a bit in hindsight. Remember that you said the person who made this comment to you is somebody you truly respect; that leads me to believe this was indeed a sincere, heartfelt comment.

Think also about your personality and if what the person said to you is basically true, no matter how personally humble you normally are with yourself. And I think if you look at the comment you heard objectively, you'll almost certainly concur with my opinion on this matter.

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. Email him at [email protected]. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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