In Pursuit of the One Pen

My birthday’s coming up in a week, and I’ve determined that for the next phase of my life I’d like to start collecting nice pens. It feels like an appropriate midlife crisis: unnecessary but still on-brand. Very demure. Very mindful.

Despite my love of all things stationery I’ve never gone out of my way to invest in fancy writing tools. I tend to buy cheap pens in bulk rather than commit to refillable ones, yet as I shuffled through my gel pens recently I found myself wondering: Isn’t it time for stability?

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a woman in possession of deep thoughts is in need of a suitable writing instrument.

So far my non-disposable pen collection consists of a Waterman ballpoint pen that I finally managed to find working ink for, and a Muji fountain pen I got K for Christmas that she ended up exchanging for a Parker. I kept it because I like the look and feel of it, even if the nib feels a bit scratchy. I’m pretty sure with a little fiddling I can get it working better. Maybe.

But neither of these pens spark the right sort of joy. And thus begins my quest to find the perfect pen. The One Pen to Rule Them All. If there is such a thing as a pen soulmate, I am determined to find it.