Something I haven't made clear, that I would like to here. The underlying primary reason for myself, a non-smoker, to take up vaping is one of a social conscience. I.E. putting myself out there to show to my already smoking friends and their friends and acquaintances this very cool device.
The fact that it looks really cool doing it, is "selling the sizzle". The fact that I "feel" cool doing it adds to the authenticity and credibility. I've seen the posers on the ecig sites and videos...they just look dumb.
I do not have the luxury of explaining my non-smoking backstory to everyone who sees me "vape". And to be honest I don't want to share that with them - that doesn't matter. What matters is communicating with THEM about the device. Whether they smoke themselves, or a friend, or a family member. What matters is they can share their experience of chatting with me or just SEEING me and maybe give one more person a more healthful life by telling about this cool thing that this chick was using.
I can relate to the idea of making myself an experiment in that great big interactive laboratory called "life", especially when I might show to posterity (or, more likely, my contemporaries) what happens when "x" does "y" under "z" circumstances.
If I get one smoker, friend, acquaintance, or Joe Blow at the grocery store off tobacco just because I went to Walmart and had a candid chat about this cool thing I'm puffing away at - that is a minute or two of putting this thing in my non-smoking mouth I feel is very well spent.
As for my photo - that's ME and the DEVICE. Not an animal, not a catchphrase, or a random item. Me + Device In. Real. Life. It's not the best photo in the world but the femme fatal aspect is just a small reflection of what I enjoy - looking good. For everyone that calls me on my "cool seeking" vanity I say cast the first stone...
Quite.
I consciously made the choice to use this thing. I'm not asking for validation, approval, or even advice. What I humbly ask is for others on this forum to share their OWN experiences. That way I can more genuinely empathize and communicate with the "smokers" I meet and create relationships with whenever they ask me "hey, what is that thing?".
Thank you, I hope that explains some things more clearly.
OK, you are not asking for "validation, approval, or even advice", but I hope you don't mind perhaps a bit of each of those.

I'm a bit surprised that no one has yet called you a troll or a spy, but it's clear to me (especially now) that you're not. You sound to me like an honest person, iVaporgirl. That means something of value, I'm sure, to more than one here -- certainly to me.
I do think maybe some folks are looking at you as if you are a something of a symbol of their own daughter or son (and by extension, their own selves); so just to play along here, if my beloved daughter or son or niece or nephew expressed themselves to me the way you just have, and had the history that you say you have -- I'd say, simply, "Do what you think is right".
The caveat that I would add here is that I trust that you're as intelligent as you sound. If you're not too bright (and by "not too bright", I mean, "easily swayed by popular opinion and cultural mores"), then I rescind the advice of my previous paragraph.
So, in an attempt to be succinct: Please continue to be an individual, and please continue to think for yourself. If that leads you to vaping, then VAPE ON!
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Edit:
Oh, yeah. I guess I should also add my own experience, since that's what you've specifically asked for.
I've smoked, off and on, for about 40 years (meaning: I've "quit" and restarted several times).
In 2004, after 8 smoke-free years, I consciously decided to begin smoking again because, based on some research I had run across, and some honest self-reflection, I began to admit that nicotine itself had been beneficial to me. So from 2004 to to early 2009, I smoked hand-rolled organic and unadulterated tobacco cigarettes. And yes, I benefited.
When I discovered e-cigs (PVs), I figured it was worth a try, since the only thing I was after (consciously, anyway) was nicotine.
After having read almost every day for almost a full year (mostly on this very forum), I am confident now that nicotine is a good thing -- for
some people. I count myself among those people, and am now deeply thankful for the invention of electronic cigarettes.
Hope that helps.
--John