The Slow Burn: Great Success (Borat Voice)

Was it -6 degrees outside for some of us? Yup. Did we burn a couple of stogies anyway? Absolutely. What started as our regularly scheduled HERF on Tuesday and Thursday evenings turned into something special. Whether bundled up, cowering in front of heaters, or tucked into an in-home lounge, people from across the world gathered for the first-ever, one-of-a-kind… Polar HERF.

In less than ideal, and in some cases dangerous, conditions we did it.


GREAT SUCCESS.

A severe, multi-day winter storm and subsequent Arctic blast brought record-breaking cold, significant ice accumulation, and widespread power outages to the Southern United States this past weekend. With many cigar aficionados stuck at home and time to kill, we did what any fellow lover of the leaf does…

PSSIT.

Put.
Some.
Smoke.
In.
The.
Air.

Student.
Former military.
Cop.
Humanitarian.
Engineer.
Security.
Teacher.
Emergency Medical Services.
Men and women.

All using cigars as the common ground to explore life, identity, loss, rebuilding, faith, failure, and purpose. Sprinkle in a heavy amount of jesting and BOOM…magic happens.

Some of us were smoking in a garage with a space heater between our knees. Others were fighting a dying Wi-Fi signal. Someone else was outside in gloves, trying to keep a torch lit in the wind. The audio cuts in and out. The stories don’t. Heck, some even logged in without a lit cigar, just to participate.

Nobody logged in to be impressive. Nobody had a pitch. Nobody had the answer. Just a bunch of people holding the fire in the cold.

Keeping fire is an old human instinct. Long before it was romance or ritual, it was survival. You didn’t just light it for yourself, you guarded it so others could gather close. Fire meant warmth in a merciless cold, light in the dark, and proof that someone had been there before you. A small, fragile thing carrying an unreasonable amount of responsibility.

A cigar is a quiet version of that same idea. A controlled ember cupped in the hands. Something you tend. Something you protect from the wind. Something you pass along… not literally, but in presence. In time. In attention. You sit with it long enough and people start drifting closer. Stories loosen. Shoulders drop. The temperature changes, even if the air doesn’t.

That morning, everyone brought their own flame. Different lives. Different battles. Different scars. But the same small act: keeping something lit when it would’ve been easier to let it go out. And in doing that, we warmed more than our fingers. We warmed the space between strangers. We made the cold world just a little more survivable for an hour or two.

Maybe that’s the real reason we smoke. Not to escape the dark… but to hold a piece of light steady long enough for someone else to find their way to it.

At least that’s what Light Up & Lean In means.

For many, it’s easy to “light up” and sit with others…at least literally.

But as much as “leaning in” sounds simple, it isn’t. It goes against instinct. Most of us are trained to keep things light, keep moving, keep a little distance between what we show and what we carry. We learn how to nod at the right moments, how to joke our way past the heavy parts, how to stay close enough to belong but far enough not to be seen.

Real proximity.
Real attention.
Costs something.

To actually lean in takes time. Repetition. Silence that isn’t rushed to be filled. The patience to sit through awkward pauses and unfinished thoughts. The discipline to listen without planning your reply. You don’t stumble into knowing people. You choose it, slowly. One conversation at a time. One honest moment stacked on another…until trust stops feeling like a risk and starts feeling like the only reasonable thing left to do.

Speaking of HERFs…

Our first Group Smoke event will be held Tuesday, February 3rd at 8pm CDT.

Every first Tuesday, we smoke the same cigar. Each month, we post a poll in Discord, and the one with the most votes becomes that month’s shared smoke.

Same time.
Same leaf.
Same table.

February’s Group Smoke winner is by Crowned Heads:

La Imperiosa – Corona Gorda (5.7 x 46)
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: My Father Cigars S.A.
• Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano Oscuro
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Nicaragua

Wherever you are, however you show up, you’re welcome. Bring a light. Bring a story. Or just bring the silence.

We’ll take care of the rest.

P.S. Check out the award winning attendees below…