I was writing to a friend just a few days ago and mentioned that I was keeping all the pieces of paper I have used over the last few months to test pens and ink. This is so out of my lane, that I've written about it in my really real journal.
I have to admit, I'm pretty ruthless in throwing things away. There have been more than a few times when I have regretted my decisions to rid myself of items that I should have held on to. But most of the time, this trait has served me well, especially since too much clutter makes me anxious.
However. These ink and pen test pages seem to have some kind of magical quality that resists my natural tendencies. I've been keeping them in a box that one of my journals came in. I decided to get them out and take a good look to see if I was ready to let go of them....
Turns out the answer is no.
I'm keeping them.
This array does not count the three notebooks with ink and pen tests by the way. These are just the loose papers. Perhaps this is one reason I'm even exploring this topic, as up until now, my preferred choice for writing anything has been in journals and notebooks. Never loose sheets of paper. These things are squirrely, have no coherency, could fly away in a breeze, and may be up to no good and you'd never know it until it was too late.
I have always been wary of obsessive behaviors. They scare me. This seems a little obsessive to me, but for once, I'm not scared. I find them comforting. I see in them a progression of understanding the different properties of pens and inks. Like lab notes! You don't want to throw away your lab notes, do you?
(Depends on the lab.)
Yeah, well, we won't go there. This isn't a TV show. This is my life.
Anyway, they don't take up much room, and I can tuck them in the box which has enough room for whatever I decide to stuff in there for the rest of the year.
It could be filed in the family archives as : 'The Year Mother Fell in Love with Fountain Pens.'
Sounds pretty innocuous, eh?
(How big is this box again?)
Never you mind. I've got this under control.
(Show me the box then.)
Nope.
It's mine.
My precious.
(Oh dear. Here lies madness!)
Nah, we're good. One day Miss Tidy Up will take care of business. Until then, stay away from my papers! That's an order.
