Betty Bryenton is a Registered Nurse practicing in the province of Nova Scotia. Having worked for more than a decade in the field of palliative care, she has witnessed first-hand the destruction of lives caused by cigarette smoking. She has experienced the pressures of working full-time in a typically female profession while juggling the responsibilities of single parenthood. She brings to this book a twenty-year history of cigarette smoking and a heart-felt passion for the subject.
Playing with Fire
Betty Baxter Bryenton is a woman with a mission and a passion. In Playing With Fire, Wisdom for Women Who Smoke, she attempts to demystify female smoking in a way that will leave the reader with improved insight, as well as compassion for the self. Playing With Fire puts female smoking into a much broader context, and helps women to understand the factors that encourage and support poor self-care practices. Smoking is just one of several behaviors used by women to assuage the discomfort of their daily lives--lives that feel overwrought with obligations and expectations that are often difficult to meet.
Many will welcome this book while others may find it controversial, since
some of the ideas presented deviate from conventional thinking. The author
questions the value of negative labeling of smokers, and of shaming people
into “good” behavior. Health, wealth and happiness will elude many
of us, and to believe otherwise may be unrealistic and self-defeating. Smoking
is symptomatic of much larger problems affecting women today, including poverty,
multiple-role stressors that adversely affect our mental health, and lowered
levels of confidence brought on by distorted media images of women.
Smoking abstinence, therefore, has emotional and social components that go well beyond overcoming the inherent addictive properties of nicotine. The more unfavorable a woman’s circumstances, the more likely she is to find solace in tobacco. Added to this is the natural resistance that most of us have to change. Playing With Fire engages women in ideas and stories that will create an understanding of why we are the way we are, and instill a more empowering view of what is possible. Creating a better life becomes the defining hope.
Playing With Fire is a very personal book. Ms. Bryenton draws from her own
experiences as a single mother working in the largely female profession of
nursing. She balances her own smoking history with what nursing has taught
her about illness and health-seeking behaviors. This book is guaranteed to
broaden your mind and challenge your beliefs.
|
Join | List | Previous | Next | Random | Previous 5 | Next 5 | Skip Previous | Skip Next |