#801 elixir

As I have written before, I have enough pens, pencils and Sharpies to provide continuous ink for the rest of my days.  I am a professed office supply junkie, a true paper-ophile, peN-ophile, Sharpie-ophile, etc. so all the Back to School sales are like nirvana.  I know I don't need anything, but who can resist the rock bottom prices that stores use to entice shoppers in their doors.  I admit I cannot.

So over the weekend I came home with a 10-pack of brand new Ticonderoga pencils.  The front of their package exclaims that they are "The World's Best Pencil", and I believe them. Who doesn't have a renewed burst of creativity when opening up the pack and taking out a pre-sharpened HB #2?  

I know I am not alone in my fetish.  There was an article in the paper* by a columnist who is also a self-professed "pen fanatic" who "stockpiles her favorite pens" as she invests "in whatever pen I was convinced at the time was the smoothest."  I laughed out loud as I thought I was unique in my fleeting loyalty to one pen and then another.  Both of us treat our pens as if they were "magic" pens, and the thoughts flowed from them instead of our brains.

Disney's Dumbo had his "magic feather" to give him confidence and the ability to do things he did not believe he could do otherwise.  I have special pens to provide inspiration and an enticement to begin writing.  What is your elixir that can transcend reality and provide you with the impetus to do the thing you need to do?  It may not be rational, but it often works. Try to stock up on the equivalent to a new pen today and see how far the inherent energy can take you.

-- beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com

@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com

*Lots out there for writers, pen fanatics by Mary Kenyon, August 6, 2014, Telegraph Herald, p. 1C