What Might Be a Special Enough Occasion?
I had a beautifully vivid dream last night about smoking a pipe again. It felt so utterly tangible and real.
I am still not sure yet what I am *going* to do, but the idea of having a pipe on a special occasion does have considerable appeal for me. I am not sure how or when I should approach this, however.
One obvious potential would be to allow myself a pipe at any wedding receptions I attend. On the plus side, I usually end up a bit tipsy at wedding receptions and that would be an incredibly appealing time to have a pipe. On the downside, wedding receptions tend to be sporadic at best, and very unpredictable.
Another possibility would be to have a pipe on the birthday of relatives who are no longer with us who were pipe smokers.
I can think of a variety of other potential scenarios that I could adopt. How should I determine the focus? I have to think about this carefully.
PipeTobacco
4 Comments:
On the assumption that you are a VERY strong-willed fellow, why not take up the pipe as a Lenten mortification? This would mean you would abstain on every Sunday, so even during the 40-day stretch you would get periodic bits of practice in refraining, to help reassure you that you can go back to full-time abstaining after Lent is done.
If you fear that you wouldn't have the will to stay off your pipes after such a Lenten mortification, then of course this is a VERY bad idea... but if you don't think you have such willpower then doesn't it seem that you are almost certain to go back, anyway? If Lent might provide your strongest external motivator to stick with a vow, then maybe it would give you the ability to re-experience life as a pipe smoker, knowing that after Lent you will have the same power to abstain that has allowed you to abstain since your original Lenten abstinence.
While the idea of taking up my pipes FOR Lent has great appeal because it sounds FUN.... it really feels like the opposite of a Lenten mortification.
The "mortification" would end up being about ending the fast itself, which feels philosophically contradictory.
I do have to contemplate this a lot more during the next several days.
PipeTobacco
here's a slightly contrarian view: By arranging to smoke the pipe only on "special" occasions, you are by inference making the pipe itself "special" and reinforcing it's power over you. Yes, you've successfully abstained for an extended period, but it'd been one of conscious denial of your desire for smoking the pipe which at times has been full of anguish and pain. In some ways it reminds me of alcoholics who realize that they cannot take even one drink, because of the power ( chemically or psychologically) it has over them. As long as the pipe is "special", you are acknowledging it's control and power over you.
So an alternative suggestion: If you're going to smoke it, make it something as "un-special" as possible. Every other Thursday for example, you give yourself dispensation to enjoy a pipe, or you can also choose not to that day.
I agree wholeheartedly with Schrodinger's Dog. You're giving that pipe far more importance than it deserves. :)
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