Jana Remy
  • Writing
    • Disability
    • Making History
    • Digital Humanities
      • dayofDH
    • Canoeing
    • Creative Nonfiction & Essays
    • Feminism
    • Bibliographies
      • Pacific Worlds Bibliography
    • Social Media
      • Mentions/Links
  • Scholarship
    • Awards/Fellowships
    • Conferences & Invited Talks
    • Collaboration
    • Workshops
    • Conference Planning
    • Technical Skills
  • Teaching
    • Blogposts About Teaching

Jana Remy

  • Writing
    • Disability
    • Making History
    • Digital Humanities
      • dayofDH
    • Canoeing
    • Creative Nonfiction & Essays
    • Feminism
    • Bibliographies
      • Pacific Worlds Bibliography
    • Social Media
      • Mentions/Links
  • Scholarship
    • Awards/Fellowships
    • Conferences & Invited Talks
    • Collaboration
    • Workshops
    • Conference Planning
    • Technical Skills
  • Teaching
    • Blogposts About Teaching
deep thoughts

going for a smoke…

written by Jana October 25, 2007

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.

Share this:

  • Share
  • Email
  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Reddit
  • Print
0 comment
0
Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest
Jana

previous post
flying mountain
next post
haze

More Posts Like This One

perhaps

a mantra for the new year…

last night I had the strangest dream….

first morning

off center

What NOT to get me for Valentine’s Day

busy-body

just so you know

here it comes…

transcendentalist

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

About Me

About Me

Hi there friend, and welcome to my blog. I started writing on the internet two decades ago. Since then I've started and finished a PhD program, left the Mormon church and became a Quaker, got divorced, remarried, found full-time work in academia, took up rock climbing and outrigger canoeing, and traveled across the globe (China! Belgium! Italy! Chicago! Montana! Portland! Gettysburg! and oh-so-many points in-between). This blog is eclectic and random--it has poetry and cooking and books. And cats. And flowers. And the ocean (my ocean). But in that sense it's a good reflection of me and my wide-ranging, far-reaching, magpie curiosity.

Subscribe via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog.

Popular

  • 1

    A Room of My Own

    December 4, 2017
  • 2

    the post-post divorce Christmas celebration

    November 28, 2017
  • 3

    Reader, I married him

    March 22, 2017
  • 4

    open

    December 21, 2017
  • Ellycat

    January 2, 2019

Categories

Archives

Popular Posts

  • 1

    A Room of My Own

    December 4, 2017
  • 2

    the post-post divorce Christmas celebration

    November 28, 2017
  • 3

    Reader, I married him

    March 22, 2017

Calendar

October 2007
M T W T F S S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031  
« Sep   Nov »
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Flickr

@2017 - PenciDesign. All Right Reserved. Designed and Developed by PenciDesign


Back To Top