Vices

Per dictionary.com, some of the defs for 'vice' are: 1. an immoral or evil habit or practice, 5. a fault, defect or shortcoming, 7. a bad habit, as in a horse.

Wikipedia.org cites Christianity's beliefs on vices:

Christians believe there are two kinds of vice:
Vices that come from the physical organism as perverse instincts (such as lust)
Vices that come from false idolatry in the spiritual realm

The first kind of vice, though sinful, is believed less serious than the second. Vices recognized as spiritual by Christians include blasphemy (holiness betrayed), apostasy (faith betrayed), despair (hope betrayed), hatred (love betrayed), and indifference (scripturally, a "hardened heart"). Christian theologians have reasoned that the most destructive vice equates to a certain type of pride or the complete idolatry of the self. It is argued that through this vice, which is essentially competitive, all the worst evils come into being. In Judeo-Christian creeds it originally led to the Fall of Man, and as a purely diabolical spiritual vice, it outweighs anything else often condemned by the Church.


PC seemed to bring up quite often, both in the prep materials and during training, different ways to deal with stress.

I listed journalling, walking, listening to music, reading as my stress-relievers.

These things are more or less available to use here, but then again, maybe not.

What happens when you are looking for a quiet walk by yourself and happen to gain a troop of little followers? Or meet enough people along the path since it's a path to the river and everyone frequents the river? Or, if all the pens/pencils you own to journal with are poor quality and aren't functioning or have been thieved? Or if you don't have batteries in your mp3 player, or you lent your only pair of earplugs out and haven't got them back yet or your mp3 player has been months missing? See where this is going?

I hadn't understood PC's stress on stress-relievers - the stress on drinking responsibly, as well. Ok, of course, we've all heard that spiel, we're all mature adults, we're all aware adults.

I hadn't factored in the need to relieve certain discomforts, whether those be the inability to satisfy your stress-relief in your old ways, or dealing with an amount of stress higher than you've ever been used to, or just an overall need for a break from the weight of the all-encompassing experience.

Which brings me (back) to vices.

Why is it that we develop vices? Comfort? Stress relief? Genetically predisposed? Deficiencies? Just something to do, as in part of our personality, or time/mind-fillers?

At what point do vices become unhealthy habits? Meaning, a person becomes dependent on said vice to feel normal or achieve satisfaction or relaxation, or overuses and/or abuses.

What sort of vices do people have? Abuse?

They say oral-fixated people always have to be chewing something - biting nails, chewing gum, random objects, smoking. Some people have ticks, physical, facial, verbal. Some people turn eating into a more frequent habit than necessary, either because of boredom, gluttony or stress. Some people use alcohol to calm their nerves, etc.

Then there's the point where vices (can) become a habit - or vice versa - destructive or invasive or not. The relationship between vices and habits is interesting, I'm still mulling it over.

For me, I used to eat a lot. I don't think it was because I was stressed, just bored (at a loss) and it was pleasing to the taste buds. I also preferred isolation, alone time. I need my alone time. In addition to, or as an alternate to my stress relievers of former habit, I've developed new ones.

One being smoking. It hasn't turned into a habit, fortunately, but it is a vice. It's a bought moment of focus, of intraversion, awareness. It's a sense of rebellion on an other-wards life of integration.

Another one has become sleep. When an answer simply cannot be found, the best solution seems to be unconsciousness. "Tomorrow's another day," Caribbean singer, Buddy Collz croons. Sometimes a plethora of thoughts and perspectives and emotions catches me an I am unable to figure out what to do with it all, unable to talk it out with a loved one. It helps with my alone time, it allows me to meditate with music and relaxation and it passes the time.

Alcohol hasn't become a vice for me, though I was surprised to find that I've used it as a form of escape.

New experiences, new methods. Learning so much more about my world and myself. Vices. They say alot about humanity and individuality.