Objects that Encourage Your Self-Care Practice

Do you have objects that encourage your self-care practice? One of my favorite objects is the fountain pen. I love to write and journal so the pen is an important part of my self-care practice. I use the fountain pen not just in my journal, but also in creating art, so it is an important and versatile tool for my self-care.

Why the Pen?

I have a large assortment of pens. The fountain pen is one of my favorites, but there are many other pen styles that I enjoy. I love making pen and ink drawings and having a variety of pens adds variation to my mark making. 

I love stationary. Nice pens, beautiful paper, and fun paperclips are all things that bring me joy. I enjoy writing handwritten letters and cards. I still use book style journals over a computer for writing out my thoughts. A great pen is part of the tactile experience of writing.

Improving Your Writing

So why is a great pen so important? It is amazing how it can make you feel differently about your writing. I have always struggled with good penmanship. It is something I’m rather self-conscious about. When I got my first fountain pen, it was amazing how it helped me work through my insecurities to overcome my writing anxiety.

How does it help? A good pen can make a change in how you write and position your hand. The nibs can help make your writing more legible and the thickness of the stroke can change the look of your writing. A good pen also inspires me to take time, to work on my writing and encourages me to learn new skills.

A Pen of Your Own

I believe that having a pen of your own, something that only you use, is important. I compare it to having a favorite pair of shoes, you would not just let anyone wear them.

Working in an engineering office, I used to have so many pens go missing from my desk. The amount of people that would walk away with my pens was ridiculous. It was not really an issue because the pens we were using were cheap. But from a sanitary perspective, pens are one of those things that are handled by multiple people and passed around without thought.   

I purchased a fountain pen that I could use at my office and it was the only one I would use. I would keep an assortment of random pens that people could walk away with, but my fountain pen was my only pen. Sometimes someone would go grab my pen, look at the nib and go find another pen. They were unfamiliar with the style so thankfully it never went missing. 

Especially during the time of pandemic, as many of us are heading back to the office or to school, having a pen that is only used by you is a good way to protect yourself from COVID-19.

What is my Favorite Pen?

My favorite pen for writing is the Lamy Safari Fountain Pen. I own 4 of them because I love them so much. My journey back into pens started with rediscovering an old calligraphy set from my childhood. I found it in an old box and the ink cartridges were still good, so started using it again. This encouraged me to learn new calligraphy styles and enjoy the experience that a great pen can bring. 

Using a calligraphy pen lead me to researching what current fountain pen styles were on the market. In my research I discovered Lamy Safari fountain pens. The Lamy pens are made in Germany which makes them very high quality. They come with both metal and plastic casings and are available in a variety of colors. Lamy pens are created with an ergonomic design which makes them comfortable to hold. If you have never used a calligraphy pen before, they are easy to use, smooth to write with and produce beautiful results.

Uses for Fountain Pens

I had originally thought fountain pens were only used for a flowing calligraphy style of writing. I never thought of them as a pen to be used on a daily basis. When I discovered that you can get nibs with a variety of thicknesses for the Lamy fountain pens, it really expanded where I could use these pens.

Lamy fountain pens come in a range of extra fine to extra broad nibs as well as 3 sizes in calligraphy nibs. I mostly use the fine nibs and the 1.1 and 1.5 calligraphy nibs. I tend to use the fine nibs for most of my journaling but have used the broad nibs, though it does require me to write a bit bigger. The nice thing about the Lamy pens is that the nibs can be switched out for broader or thinner nibs. In my case, my husband loves the broad nibs so we traded pen nibs so that we both had a writing tool we were happy with.

The thickness of the nib dictates its use. I use an 1.5 calligraphy nib for calligraphy style writing as it is a chisel nib which gives me a lot of variety in thicknesses. The 1.1 calligraphy nib and the fine nibs are great for journaling, for writing and especially for drawing. The broad nib is especially nice if you want more variation in your stroke.

Variety in Ink

What I love about fountain pens is how many ink colors are available. Lamy provides ink cartridges that can just be inserted on the pen nib for ease of use. They also provide a converter with each pen which allows you to load ink from a bottle into a small refillable cartridge so that you can use any ink in your Lamy pen. I adore the Lamy ink, but I have also found some interesting inks to use in my pen. My favorite is a turquoise ink with gold flake called Emerald of Chivor by J. Herbin. The sky is the limit when it comes to beautiful inks that you can use with these pens.

 

Pens as a Self-Care Practice

In today’s age of disposable pens, it might seem strange to see pens as being objects that encourage your self-care practice. But I truly believe it is a way to enjoy writing and offers a chance to slow down how we write and the pace at which we write to enjoy the moment. I find a lot of joy from using a fountain pen. The flow of the ink, the beauty of the colors, it is such a physical experience.  

I fine that the tactile things around me, like a pen, can help me stay grounded during times of stress. I can’t think of how many times I doodled in meetings with my pen just to relieve feelings of stress. An object that helps us stay in the moment and focus on something as simple as writing can help us stay present and focused. They are also tools in times of relaxation to bring us joy.

How About You?

Do you have objects that encourage your self-care practice? I would love to hear what you use to help you find self-care in your life, to reduce stress and to enjoy these moments in a great way. If you have anything you would like to share or have any questions, please contact me directly or leave a comment below. I hope that you have a great week of personal self-care.