Since handwriting has been on my mind, I thought I would maybe put the subject to bed by telling a small tale of my love/hate relationship with fountain pens and hopefully move on to other things.
(That would be a welcome relief. Please proceed.)
Very well.
Almost every year from Junior High on, at the beginning of the school year, I would purchase a Sheaffer cartridge fountain pen.
I was trying desperately to break out of the ordinary ball point pen rut. Though to be fair, it's hard to beat a good old Bic blue pen for economy and functionality. STILL... I wanted something more from my writing experience.
But no matter HOW hard I tried I could not get used to those pens. They clogged up easily. Leaked often. The nibs were mediocre. And they could never keep up with the speed of my writing and after about a month, I would stick the pen in my desk drawer where the ink would eventually dry up altogether inside the pen and ruin it utterly.
But somehow, the following year, I would forget all that and try again, thinking that if I just would COMMIT to it, I could become a real fountain pen user.
Alas, it never happened.
Later in life, I tried a fountain pen that was more expensive, but not the best quality either. And had my heart broken again... only this time I wasn't just crying over the crappy pen, but [what I thought at the time], was a disgusting amount of money down the drain.
But I never gave up the dream of the perfect fountain pen.
Then one day about two years ago, I was minding my own business, scrolling through Pinterest and there among the slow stitching, junk journals, and tea cup sets, there appeared the most beautiful fountain pen I had ever laid my eyes on. I blinked in disbelief. So, I looked it up to see how much it cost and did more than blink. I was bereft of all hope. The thing cost 360 dollars! WHAT? All I could think was ... UNFAIR!
But I was so smitten, I just kept looking at the thing and reading about it and searching for places to buy it and then shaking my head knowing I just could not have the object of my long desire.
For one thing, if I ever thought I might gather up my courage to buy one, what would happen if it didn't write well? Or didn't fit my hand. Or had a scratchy nib?
So I just looked at it with longing, whenever it would show up on Pinterest randomly from time to time... and I watched numerous YouTube videos of people who were unboxing this pen and demonstrating it. Talk about torturing myself. It was ridiculous.
This went on for two years.
Then one day on a whim, when I ran across it on JetPens.com [still 360.00], I wondered if it might be on Amazon, so I looked. And it was. And it did not cost near that much money! I checked the model number three or four times to see if it really WAS the same pen and not some knock off fake.
No. It seemed to be the real deal.
It was still a lot of money. But the Amazon price had taken the sting out of it.
I ordered it.
Though I was still in a fever of worry that I was buying a fake one.
Now before we continue, I should tell you in watching all those videos from fountain pen aficionados, I found out about something they call your 'Grail Pen'. Some seemingly unattainable pen, or your ideal, most longed for pen, and how people had spent a long time and a lot of money buying pens thinking they were going to find the ONE. And ending up with WAY too many pens in their collection.
Anyway.
It finally arrived and I opened it with trepidation, only to see the official Sailor box. And inside, the official little instruction sheet. Then this beauty finally revealed itself:
It's called Spring Rain. It has a 24 karat gold nib. And it is perfect in every way.
It's a small pen. Many people don't like it for that reason. But I have small hands. It's perfect for me.
And best of all, it writes like a dream. Smooth as silk and the ink flow keeps up with my handwriting.
We loves it.
It sparks Joy as Marie Kondo says.
And the best thing of all? Even though I waited around for two years, I haven't spent a fortune on dozens of other pens, I found my Grail Pen first thing!
(What about all those Sheaffers in landfills somewhere?)
Sigh... have you LOOKED at that pen? Have some respect. Besides. I'll never look at another fountain pen. This is the one.
(Never say never. The Universe is listening.)
Well, we shall see. My money's on the Cupcake.
(No, your money is wrapped up in that pen.)
That I cannot deny, and I regret nothing!
