The simple exercise of writing a few words to ensure the fountain pens keep going is a blog theme addressed before. Today I got to thinking of the strugglers. They write okay, but have to sit alongside others that write more effectively. It would be easy to leave them be and not use them. However. I can’t give up on using the ones that need more attention. I’d like to have more skills in taking them apart and repairing them. They are fragile due to vintage age at times, so can’t be forced to come apart and be reassembled to work more efficiently. They could break and become useless.

Life is similar isn’t it? Dynamics in family circles, friendships, professional status, general socialisation. Supporting others who struggle. Or others supporting you yourself if you struggle.

I did actually think this above when using the pens this afternoon. ‘If I was struggling and got shoved to the unusable drawer. How would I feel?’ Funny how parallel thoughts appear when a simple action is being performed. Paying a little or more attention to the ones that need it.

It sounds trite, but performing everyday tasks can help philosophical thought. Ethics, reflecting, giving others freedom of choice, decisions that do no harm, etc. In the act of a simple performance of keeping your fountain pens alive and the fact they are simply items? No. They have been around for decades. They have been a daily inclusion in someone’s life. They were essentials. They were important for their owners. They wrote love and friendship letters to others, information recorders of important knowledge, wrote poetry/novels/shopping lists. They may have found themselves in a drawer and ignored for decades too. Now? They find a new lease of life and can perform. Sometimes with a bit of a wobble. But with every possibility of ending with a flourish.

Strangely, I put purple ink into a couple of pens. One, the Cross, always a difficult starter. The other a new purchase, the Jinhao X 159, that was still awaiting elongated action. As I was doing it I smiled. ‘This is going to be their purple patch’ I thought. I realised that subconscious actions are as important as conscious actions. These two are going to shine over the next few weeks.

Fountain Pens hey? They can teach you a thing or two.