[ Post a Response | The Sublime Desire of Cigarette Smoking ]
Posted by vesperae I think that the expression of surprise at the discovery indicates that something fundamental has changed in the perception of the person who is surprised. It could be positive or negative, or slight to profound, but there has been "a little earthquake" somewhere. And the reasons for the surprise - regardless of what they are superficially - eventually always root back to the basic notion that smoking is toxic and ultimately deadly. I also think that, unless you have a strongly sensual to sexual attraction that is fueled by thinking about the Dangers of Smoking, most smokers experience the Sublime Desire of cigarette smoking on a mostly to exclusively subconscious level. But I also believe that the influence of this subconscious awareness is no less significant than the conscious one that you and I and your girlfriend all share. The Sublime Desire simply expresses itself differently, and craves different levels of reward and satisfaction. And for anyone who hasn't read it, probably the preeminent Literary Angel of this forum is the infamous "Cigarettes Are Sublime" by Richard Klein. I often wonder how many intelligent smokers out there have read this book, and how it has changed their relationship with smoking, and perhaps helped them to take more pleasure in it than they ever have before. I suppose that this is actually one of my primary motivations for this forum as well... I really appreciated your comments about declining the smoker's health screening, because to be honest with you, I had never consciously thought about it before, although I realize that I had subconsciously come to the same conclusion you had: "No thanks." Not only would doing the screening eliminate a big part of the psychological charge of the Mystery for me, it would also only serve to have too much reality intrude on my Imagination. And the only thing that it could do is cause me to take less pleasure in my smoking; and since I've accepted that quitting is simply not an option for me if I want to live a happy and pleasurable life (no matter how abbreviated), what's the point? * * * * *vesperae
on July 15, 2006, 5:11 pm, in reply to "Re: Contrasts and Flirting"
Hi Marcus, 
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