Hmmm
As I mentioned in a post a couple of days ago, there are many days where I do not have much of any strong yearnings for a pipe. I suppose that is progress.
Today, however, the yearning and thoughts were stronger and more pronounced. I have not really noticed any rhyme or reason to be able to predict when such a passionately strong yearning will occur, however. It is such a curious thing.
I do know, that if it were fifty or sixty or more years ago, and I was my current age, I would not be refraining... the sense of normalcy in the behavior, the sense of comaraderie, and of entertainment would have it be such a part of my everyday world that it would never have crossed my mind to refrain.
But, sadly it is not 1949, nor 1959, nor 1969.... it is 2019, and times are vastly different even if I were to prefer they were not. So, I do refrain. Because to refrain in these times is truth-be-told, today's norm. And, for better or worse, it is more comfortable being within the norm at times.
PipeTobacco
4 Comments:
Dear Professor, you may have very good reasons for refraining from your beloved pipes, but from your many posts I just don't see that being "within the norm" is of those good reasons.
Consider that if you wish to remain within the norm of the USA in 2019, you should become skeptical about the value of university education, particularly at current tuition levels. You should be generally supportive of abortion, especially early in a pregnancy. You should not worry too much about your eating habits. You should drive your car rather than walk if you need to travel farther than a city block. You should listen to contemporary music. You should watch six hours or so of television (or streaming media online) daily. And so on.
You see, Professor, as a college instructor and a runner and a serious Roman Catholic, you are already by choice well outside the norm in several aspects of your life, yet you have found congenial subcultures outside the norm such that you may rarely even notice just how far outside the norm you really are.
With that in mind, when I read your posts I just don't see you as a middle-of-the-bell-curve sort of person. You are happy to be your individual self in various other aspects of your life. Why is your pipe-smoking different? I suspect that, deep down, your reason for refraining is not as simple as a desire to be within the norm; were it so, you would be an occasional user of recreational marijuana, which is now both legal and well within the norm in your state, and is in many ways more "normal" than tobacco use. If being "within the norm" were your motivator, wouldn't switching to cigarettes -- much more "within the norm" than pipes -- be a much more attractive option to you?
Do you see? Moving toward the norm -- switching to cigarettes -- seems not to appeal to you. So there must be something else underlying your strong desire to refrain from your pipes.
I'm just proud of you...keep up the good work.
God, I miss my pipe. However, there are so many people carrying around oxygen tanks due to smoking, that I also refrain.
the Ol'Buzzard
Pipe-Smoking...if there are personal health-reasons for quitting...then so be it. But if abstaining from the pipe in an effort to fit society's norms, please reconsider. When I decided to take it up, I felt a sort of shame. Smoking (ANY kind of tobacco) is looked down upon in this day and age. I remember a time when EVERYONE smoked...mostly cigarettes. The restaurant I used to work in back in the late Eighties had a tiny non-smoking section (three seats on a sun-porch). Now, during the course of thirty years, we've done a total flip-around. I come from a non-smoking background when it comes to pipe-smoking. (Back about ten years ago, I remember asking you for guidance if I was ever to embark on this endeavor. And you heartily agreed.) Thanks to YouTube and the ad-hoc pipe community that has developed, I learned a LOT...it's like having a whole university of pipemen and women to learn from...the types of pipes, tobaccos, etc. For my own part, I think I maybe smoke once or twice a month on average. Nothing like a whole bunch of mentors. I've discovered that it's really a personal experience...as I'm sure your own pipe pursuit taught you. Great for contemplation, if nothing else. A form of meditation, if you will. But you KNOW all this. Whatever you do, I will be here, checking on your latest dispatches...
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