In many ways one of the biggest innovations in writing has been the pen. Imagine how your class experience would have been different if you had to etch on a tablet every time you wanted to do your homework or send a letter. The ballpoint pen changed the entire writing game, making it more convenient than porting around ink and quillls. But, as things become more and more common in day to day life, we tend to forget how much of a amazing instrument the pen is. Maybe this is why there seems to be a movement towards some for the precision and elegance of the original feather quill pen. Especially for those that interested in calligraphy and other writing arts a fine feather quill pen or writing quill is in many ways essential. Something that has been lost in modern life is a sense of penmanship. In times gone by, when handwriting was much more important in day to day affairs, people took pride in their writing, namely their script. In fact in many ways, people were judged by a certain extent by how stylized their cursive letters were. In many ways this allowed your to show your personality. In this modern text based world, we don’t see as much of these personal flourishes.
Feather Ink Pens are Not Only for Founding Fathers
If you were to ask most Americans what they think of when they are asked to imagine the feather quill pen, they will more than likely elicit images of the founding fathers, Jefferson, Franklin, Washington, signing important documents. While feather ink pens are not a common occurrence, as in you won’t see people using them to sign cheeks in banks, they are still used for artistic and stylistic applications each day. The advantages of using a feather quill pen are the lines that you are able to get with them are akin to the line quality you would get from a very expensive artist pen. Another reason why artists tend to used feather quill pens is because they are reusable unlike some art pens. Because the plastic ball point pen has become so common place it is easy to forget the genesis of modern writing implements. Especially in this society that has a great obsession with convenience and calculated obsolescence, it is easy to forget that not too long ago, people were known for their possessions and these possessions in many ways were their calling card. Think about how you can recognize your friends car or bike when they pass you on the street, in many ways it was the same thing with personal effects like pens. Maybe today when there is so much disposable in today’s modern life, it is time to think about how to take more pride in our possessions.
Writing as a Reflective Act
Even if you aren’t an artist or a person that enjoys fine calligraphy there is still a lesson to be learned from the objects of the past. There was once a time when if you wanted to contact a friend you couldn’t pick up a phone or got to the internet and Skype them. You had to sit down at a desk, get a pot of ink and writing quill and formulate a letter that was meaningful and informative. This was a time to reflect on not only the events that had taken place in ones life, but also how those events related to the person that they were contacting. In many ways the epistle has been some of the most informative writing that we have gleaned from the past. From the letter you are able to learn so much more about a person. Think of the letters from famous writers that have worked to deepen their work. Of course people still send letters these days, by some estimates it is several billions a year. In the olden days, you would be lucky to get a response in several weeks. The lesson to be taken from this is that sometimes it is important to allow yourself the space to be able to think about yourself and your life and what you have done, and what you intend to do.