Swapping smoking for sketching: The Art of distraction

Or should it be Art is my distraction?

I started smoking when I was 19 years old which I've always felt quite embarrassed about because by that age, you'd think I'd have known better - which I did - which is precisely why it is so embarrassing!

As a smoker of 20 cigarettes a day, although I'd never tried to give up, about 7 years ago I attempted to reduce it to 10 by taking up vaping, but vaping made me cough quite a bit so after a couple of days, I returned to smoking at my full capacity😂 !

I'm not exactly known for my self-discipline - in school, my GCSE grades were pretty decent but that wasn't because of revision, I think I just had a good memory. I scraped a couple of A levels by the skin of my teeth realising way too late that I was no longer able to just wing it and in University, when I was totally left to my own devices, despite good intentions at the start of every term, my attendance was minimal! (Sorry mum!)

That's me at the back in the green car queuing for 4 hours to get petrol in Brecon to make sure I had enough petrol to get to work the following day, even though I already had a full tank!

My first full-time job after leaving Uni was anything but full-time! I don't think I did a full week's work in the whole 8 months I was there! I used any excuse I could think of to not to go in including during the petrol crisis in 2000, and despite the company agreeing to let me pop out the day before for 4 hours to go and get petrol to make sure that I would be able to attend work for the rest of the week, "running out of petrol" the following day!

So when I decided in December 2024, that I was going to start trying to give up smoking, despite having done a lot of growing up, I didn't have much faith in myself! I had always had it in my head that I would stop before I was 30, which moved to 40 and getting closer to the next milestone (yikes!), and thinking I'd probably need a few attempts before I was successful, I thought I'd better start sooner than later!

The last time I had a cigarette was January 20th 2025, at about 12.33pm. That's 100 days ago! I could not have done it without "stop smoking tablets", which I took for about 3 weeks, but also without the patience and support of my other half, my family, and my friends.

When I was going through the hardest part (which was the first 2 weeks for me), I found breathing exercises which in hindsight mimicked the inhalation of cigarette smoke, very comforting and I know this might sound gross but I do still enjoy the smell of a freshly opened cigarette packet - not once they've been lit though - just the packet! 😁 Although I didn't consider this at the time, giving up in the Winter months would have been easier too - not having to go outside in the rain was a bonus and smoking in the sun is something I absolutely loved (and quite frankly miss a lot) so if I'd tried to give up in Summer I think I'd have very quickly failed. After a month of not smoking, I also increased my pension contributions as a way of deterring myself from lighting up, knowing that I would find it financially more difficult to return to smoking!

The other thing I have been able to do is use Art as a distraction. When I start drawing, sometimes 4 or 5 hours can pass in the blink of an eye and that's been so crucial in interrupting the cravings and because of my social media pages, the courses I've been doing and creating this website to showcase my Art for sale, I've been able to change my routine and direct my focus away from smoking into something else!

Although I've just hit 100 days without a cigarette, I'm cautious not to believe I've successfully given up, because I don't want to be cocky and I know lots of people who have given up for years only to slip up and start smoking again and the truth is, I'll always be an ex-smoker not a non-smoker so I can't let my guard down and start thinking I've nailed it just yet!

However right now, I'm feeling focussed and determined - I've done the hard bit by getting through nicotine withdrawal, so although this sunny weather makes things more tricky, I keep reminding myself that if I start smoking again today at the age of "fortymuffledsound", that would be significantly more embarrassing than starting at the age of 19!