going for a smoke...

Yesterday RJohn related an epiphany he had while waiting impatiently in an airport lounge. As he sat with his luggage trying to make the time pass faster, he watched a group of people in the glass-enclosed smoker's lounge. He explained how relaxed they looked as they sat there, puffing away. Chatting with friends. Creating a kind of impromptu community that was completely unlike the impersonal anxiety on the other side of the glass. He found that he was jealous of the time these folks took out of their travel frenzy to just kick back and indulge in their cigarettes. And while not advocating a smoking habit, he suggested that we would all be better off if we partitioned a similar space of self-indulgence into our daily routines.

I responded to him with a smoking anecdote of my own...When I was undergoing my cancer treatments and I needed some time to escape from the craziness of the hospital for awhile, I often went to the smoker's lounge. There I wasn't a patient, I was just one other person seeking some respite from their life for a moment. I'd cozy up in one of the padded chairs and lose myself in a book. The smoker's lounge also had vending machines with Juicy Fruit gum (a favorite back then that I can't stand now) and toffee ice cream bars (ditto). And I didn't mind the smoke, really. Because my fears of 'getting cancer' seemed oh-so-ridiculous at that moment. :)

I don't smoke now and have no interest in taking up the habit. But I do try to find ways of incorporating 'smokers breaks' into my day. It's my cup of tea that I drink leisurely as I sit in a wicker chair on my back porch or my evening escape to water my garden. Just 10 minutes of space can make such a difference.