"I am a pen snob," declared a classmate of mine yesterday as she retreived her favorite writing instrument from our table. Some folks laughed. I understood. I too am a pen snob.
My favorite writing instrument is a fine point caligraphy pen. The most humble grocery list gains an air of elegance when written with a caligraphy pen. I love the feel of the nib against the paper. I KNOW, through my sense of touch, that i'm transferring information from one media, my mind, to another. Most of my notes in college were taken using that pen.
My second choice us an old fashioned fountain pen, a Parker 51 to be exact. It has a smoother feel than the calligraphy pen but the ink flows onto paper in a similar way. The ink is not uniform. There are darker and lighter places as I slow to think or hurry to get an idea down. This pen belonged to my father. That adds to the attachment I feel for it.
My third choice is a super fine point Pentel. It has that slight scratchy feel against the paper that the calligraphy pen has but is more reliable. It has an intensly precise feel.
The sense of touch, or connectedness I feel in my favorite pens, is important to me. I was the child who HAD to touch everything in the store. I didn't necessarily play with things, I just touched them. I'm still that way. I walk around an elevated track with a railing with vertical metal bars. Some days I can't resist running my fingers across the bars. It makes me smile to feel the rails tap against my fingertips. I feel a bit like a mischievous child.
Sometimes it's easy to feel a little disconnected. Life becomes so busy that you end up just making sure you hit the next check point. I'm not so sure that's really living life. I heard a quote today that appealed to the pen snob in me.
"When writing the story of your own life, don't let someone else hold the pen."
Harley Davidson
Go grab your favorite pen and write!
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