All Who Wander Are Not Lost

Relentlessly pushing onward in one’s life is both necessary and slightly alarming.

We mark the passage of time with birthdays, Christmas celebrations, annual traditions, sporting finals. Yet it seems we barely take time to pause, have a good look around, appreciate what we already have and what we’re already built rather than always hunting down more, more, more.

While perseverance, dedication, ambition, drive and the pursuit of excellence are undoubtedly good things, it’s also wise to remember that the relentless hounding of acquisition is also one of the most destructive forces currently unleashed on the planet.

It’s why we are exhausting the world’s resources, which once seemed infinite; why a tiny percentage of the population hold a huge percentage of global wealth; why the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

This came to mind during a trawling through of cigars recently, haphazardly dotted, as they are, around the house in a variety of home-made and shop-bought humidors. When is enough ever enough? Is there any point in continually buying or stocking up on cigars when we already have plenty squirreled away for that rainy day? Once again, surely it’s a habit, a human trait, rather than an actual need?

I reckon it’s healthy to think like this every little while before we get ahead of ourselves. The image of an avaricious, slavering, numbers-obsessed cigarophile isn’t a flattering one. That’s perhaps why cigar people are so generous and often hand out rare and expensive sticks to friends and acquaintances; it’s surely better to hand them over freely and with an open heart than clutch them to your chest, hissing like a cigar-smelling version of Gollum.

There will always be cigars you’ll never part with on pain of death; that exceptionally rare box of Cubans which is now worth a small fortune; a part-smoked box of something your late Dad gave you as a gift. That’s fine. But also consider some of your other, jealously guarded stash.

Our advice to you would simply be this; shake off the shackles of your inner Gollum and whenever you go out, taking a cigar with you ‘just in case’, make sure you pack a spare for a pal too. And make an effort to give it away.

Of course, you don’t want to do so to someone who wouldn’t enjoy it or couldn’t care less. But if the chance comes to give a good stick to a brother or sister of the leaf, never hesitate to do so with a song in your heart. Trust us.

It’s a great thing, being able to give freely and with all best wishes, and cigar people are among the best in the world at it. Go forth, then, and visit your usual haunts like a man reborn.

And if you find yourself hunched over your humidor, caressing a varnished box while hissing ‘My precious,’ – it’s time to have a word with yourself.