Silence, Solitude, and the Philosophy of Pipe Smoking

The topic of today’s video is silence, solitude, and the philosophy of pipe smoking. Everyone now acts like they have to be in a hurry all the time, but hurry is one of those things that will crush a man’s initiative, his purpose, and his zeal. We were not made with the intention that we should live our lives amidst constant noise and motion. There must be moments of peace and quiet; moments that allow us to observe to think and to remember.

Our world is busy doing absolutely nothing, in a hurry to go nowhere. Why? is it because we want to be seen living busy lives? Or, maybe we’re afraid of what quiet and silence will reveal to us.

I’m not going to be in a hurry to do this video today, so, if you’re in a hurry and you need to move on, I understand that. But. I have some things I want to say, and I’m not going to be in a rush to do it.

I am convinced that we do not need to live with constant noise and constant activity. I am equally persuaded that many of us intentionally avoid moments of solitude and silence because we don’t want to be bothered by it. But, sitting still in the quiet forces us to think, to look inside ourselves, to weigh ourselves in the balance of our Creator’s admonishments.

What does any of this have to do with pipe smoking? Well, unlike the majority of the world, pipe smokers pursue moments of solitude and quiet. We pursue it. We look forward to those times. The decline of pipe smoking in our society is a direct reflection of the growing hustle and bustle worldview that currently shapes our daily lives. Pipe smokers are not afraid of solitude and silence. Indeed, most of our smoking sessions will be spent alone. Contrary to the hipsters and self-promoted VIPs who frequent coffee shops so they can show the world how busy and important they are, with their espresso in hand and their laptop in face, pipe smokers just want to be left alone – left alone to enjoy a well-blended tobacco and a well-made pipe in peace. Pipe people do not wish to be bothered by the unnecessary noise and constant movement that’s all around us all the time. We’re not afraid of solitude or facing the reality of our failures and our shortcomings.

That’s what happens to me when I sit and think about what has been going on in my life in the past few weeks past few months. I take stock, take inventory. I reflect upon what I have, what I do not have, what I have succeeded in accomplishing, and what has yet to be done.

Now, I personally think that people who are drawn to the pipe were pipe people to begin with. They were reflective and honest and genuine to start with. It just took them a while to get to the fight.

Pipe smokers enjoy peace and they enjoy quiet. We search for and protect those moments that we can enjoy with our pipe. We search for those moments, and we protect them. This is not to say that we do not enjoy smoking a pipe with other people. I know I do. Or that we don’t enjoy the company of other people when we’re enjoying our pipe. My wife and I will sit on the porch regularly and I’ll enjoy my pipe and she’ll enjoy the conversation that we’ll have. My son likes to watch me smoke a pipe and, I’m sure, one day, he will reach a point where he’ll begin his own briar collection – many many years from now.

What I cannot tolerate is when somebody’s whopping their jaws, as my grandpa would say it, whopping their jaws for no reason whatsoever, uttering platitude after platitude, no point to the conversation. There’s a difference between meaningful conversation and mere platitudes, and, ultimately, the pipe has the power to serve as our sole companion during those quiet smoking sessions. And why shouldn’t it?

A tobacco pipe is an expression, a representation, if you will, of the way things were before the world became hurried, fast-paced, and noisy. Cell phone screens, the internet, Google, AI – all of these things are extremely new inventions that have gained charge over our schedules and ways that no other force in history has been able to accomplish. Even among many pipe people that I know, there’s this need to check on Instagram, check on my Facebook account, watch a video, call somebody while they’re smoking a pipe. Most of the time, when I am smoking a pipe, I just want to sit down and enjoy the tobacco and think. I don’t want to be bothered by screens, for the most part. Maybe that’s unusual, I don’t know.

But, regardless as to whether you’re a pipe smoker or not, everybody seems to be thinking about what to say next on social media; what to post next on social media, and how we can make other people see us as being impressive and important. Now, I’m not saying it’s wrong to strive to be impressive and want to be important. Who doesn’t want that? It’s good to be impressive and it’s good to be important. But, these are not goals in and of themselves. These are byproducts of people who demand and appreciate moments of silence and strive for moments of solitude. People who develop important ideas and impressive life practices are not motivated by cheering or following the noise, trends, and flighty habits of other people. They are driven by their own goals, their faith, and their ambition.

So, in a fast-paced, noisy world, the pipe always plays an extremely important role. There’s nothing hurried about pipe smoking. Nothing hurries at all about it. The very nature of the process forces us to be quiet.

Many have discussed the health risks or the health benefits associated with pipe smoking. I would argue that using the pipe as a way to achieve peace and quiet is massively important to one’s mental and physical health. The combination of stress and worry is a very real and dangerous killer, and arguably far more dangerous than anything associated with the use of pipe tobacco.

So, I’ll leave you with this thought. Listen, government and societal crusades against pipe smoking completely miss the point. The unhealthy addiction of our time is the constant need to fill our daily life with phones, texts, screens, machines, and the technological noise of a world gone mad.

That’s all i have to say about that.

We need to slow down, enjoy the pipe and quiet in solitude. I’m Alan Harrelson with the old Carolina Pipe Cottage. Thank you all for stopping by today.