Finding The Pleasure In Writing

"It's the name of the shop."

I find myself repeating this phrase when speaking to our visitors here in our stunning brick-and-mortar boutique in glorious Carmel-by-the-Sea.  They may be asking what makes one of the limited edition writing instruments worth the price tag, or possibly why I prefer to write with a fountain pen.  Most often, however, when someone new peeks in, intrigued, and starts asking questions as a fresh, new applicant to the world of fine writing, they eventually get around to asking, "Why bother writing?  I just type everything!"

At this point, it might be easier to simply escort them out.

But, of course, in this trade we're nothing if not passionate evangelizers of this pursuit, this hobby, what usually amounts to this obsession among its dedicated acolytes, and so I feel myself begin to roll comfortably into the monologue - the one honed over countless discussions held in that beautiful little showroom with genuinely curious new patrons.

It's the name of the shop: The Pleasure Of Writing.  While we do have the occasional drop-in who mentions that they never write anymore, that isn't really true.  Everyone writes; some more than others, perhaps.  And the act of writing itself is an incredibly personal thing.  It's how we express ourselves, it's how we can communicate with others, and it's a way of recording and keeping information - memories that we can reflect upon.  Our handwriting is unique to us, and allows us to identify the authors of messages we read.  

There is something about writing instruments that connects deeply with us, moreso than other "collectibles," if they can be considered such.  Those who fall into the hobby do so headfirst and at great speed, amassing staggeringly impressive collections of unique and impressive items which they are always more than willing to share with any willing audience.  For those who manage to resist the siren song of the hundred-pen collection, their smaller but much more carefully curated personal assemblage are inevitably pieces of intense personal value, the stories behind their acquisition or the reason for their collection, again, tales that the proprietor is more than happy to tell.

This is the fate of any who dare pick up a writing instrument of any quality.  Again, an often-repeated line in our shop is, "I use Bic!"  And while, again, this is a hilarious quip that no one has ever previously spoken within the walls of our pen boutique, the fact of the matter is that until you pick up a quality rollerball and write with water-based ink, or until you feel the iridium-tipped tines of an 18k gold nib glide across fine Tomoe River paper, there is no context for what a writing experience has the capability of being to which you can appeal.  It never occurs to you that your experience is quantifiable.   Merely that it is, and shall be, inalterable, unavoidable.

And this would continue to be the case except for the fact that, almost universally, when you place the most rudimentary of fountain pens into the hands of a new user, one who has never written with something such as this before, they light up.  Their face breaks into a smile or an expression of surprise.  Their head begins to nod slightly as they serpentine lines back and forth across the unremarkable paper test pad you've handed them.  There is a transformation - a revelation.  A new level has been opened up above what they considered to be the ground floor of their potential experience, and once they've climbed up to it it is almost impossible to once again accept climbing down.

It's the pleasure of writing - the name of the shop - and once you've experienced it you're finished.  You find more reasons to write.  You start journaling, or keeping a daybook.  You make physical, analog lists and write notes to loved ones.  You start correspondences and carry a pen and paper with you.  You buy a pen case.  You buy two.

Ultimately that's what makes it such an easy pastime to fall into - it's a pleasure.  The feel of the pen as it glides over stationery, the tactile moment of the nib meeting the paper's surface.  The pleasure of writing is something that seems to be indelibly linked to our souls, and if in its exercising we experience this profound, sublime joy then all the better.

It's a pleasure to write, and it's a pleasure to find the pleasure in writing.