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Tomorrow I go into surgery to fight cancer. The doctors are removing my thyroid, and while they say the outlook is good, the word cancer has a way of echoing in the back of your head like an unwanted song you can’t turn off. Here’s the part that makes me feel guilty: I’m still smoking. After all the warnings, after the diagnosis, after staring mortality in the face—those cigarettes are still finding their way between my fingers. Quitting sounds so simple when other people talk about it. Just stop. But when your brain and body are hooked, it’s like trying...

Of all the methods I’ve tried to quit smoking—and believe me, I’ve tried more than the number of puffs in a pack—two methods consistently come up in the stories of people who’ve successfully quit: a spiritual awakening… and cold turkey. Sometimes, it’s both at once. They hit their knees, say a prayer, see a flash of divine light (or maybe just the kitchen bulb flickering), and boom—they’re done. No more cigarettes, no more urge. Like the Marlboro Man got replaced by Saint Nicotine-Free. Sounds great, right? But here’s the thing—how do you make a spiritual awakening happen? You can’t just...

Let’s talk about a word that gets tossed around a lot in addiction circles: enabling. It’s the kind of word that makes people uncomfortable, like realizing you’ve been holding the lighter for someone while they’re trying to quit. But when it comes to smoking, what does “enabling” even mean? Is offering someone a cigarette really that big of a deal? What about letting them bum one, or simply not nagging them to stop? Can you enable a smoker just by being kind? The answer is complicated—like most things with addiction. The Ashtray in the Room For me, smoking has never...

In the early 20th century, art took a wild left turn—and some people never forgave it. One day you had Renoir painting sun-dappled picnics in pastel fields, and the next thing you knew, Kazimir Malevich slapped a black square on a white canvas and called it a revolution. Was it? Or was it a hit job? Did abstract art liberatepainting from realism… or was it a cold-blooded murder? Let’s explore this modern mystery: Did Abstract Kill Art? The Crime Scene: A Century in Chaos The 20th century was chaos in motion—two world wars, the rise of psychology, the invention of...

Quitting smoking isn’t just about putting down a cigarette. It’s about stepping out of a whole lifestyle—and that’s something most people don’t tell you. Let’s talk about The Smoking Section. No, not just the metal bench in front of the liquor store or the busted-up plastic chairs outside a group home. I’m talking about the invisible social stage where cigarettes become currency. It’s where conversations start, friendships spark, and secrets are traded over a shared lighter. Whether it's outside the bus station, behind the halfway house, or at a picnic bench in the park—that is the real smoking section. And...