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My longest relationship has been with a pack of cigarettes.
Photographed by Bob Stone, Vogue, October 1972
The reality: Smoking is abjectly gross, zero-gain, and unglamourous.
So here I am: 40 days cig-free.
The worlds leading cause of avoidable premature mortality, tobacco smoking is a scientifically proven, virtueless vice.
Broadly speaking, a vice is a bad habit or a weakness of character.
Is that always an inherently bad thing?
Could some vices even yield a positive outcome?
Take the F-bomb, for instance, which was artfully dropped a total of 3,021 times overSuccessions four seasons.
It is explosive, rude, indecent.
A tick to be tamed.
This is a skewed representation.
It also helps to bolster our physical and emotional resilience.
Its like having an extra octave, Byrne adds.
Theres something intensely liberating about this language.
It can make us feel better.
Induce belly laughter or stunned speechlessness.
During the pandemic, it wassharedspeech, small talk with near strangers, gossip, we so deeply craved.
This can be affectionately benign information.
Even when were talking about celebrities, gossiping might be useful, Pan stresses to show our stand.
Mythologies around our social behavior extend to every facet of our life.
Also, its yummy!
Coffee used to be something that was generally thought of as bad for you.
Now I think its completely turned around.
Two coffees a day,according to one story.
A stretch, yes, but not without some morsels of truth.
Coffee is undoubtedlygoodfor most of us, Amita says.
Ultimately, genetic differences, as well as physiological differences, change whether coffee is helpful or not.
Still, so rarely does the TikTok health jury reward this kind of nuance.
Its too boring for the algorithm, a space that thrives on fear-mongering clickbait.
That can make you feel like Marie Antoinette for eating a slice of red velvet cake.
Frankly, its a bit depressing.
That extremist approach is so rife on social media, agrees Rosamund.
Is there a gentler approach?
As for the other stuff?
Acknowledge that sometimes our vices do not have to be an all-or-nothing affair.
Fuck it, why not?
