Yes, it’s true, I am more than a little obsessed with fountain pens and ink. So, you can imagine my joy at discovering a day set aside for celebrating these beautiful writing instruments. Taking place on the first Friday in November each year, #FountainPenDay is celebrated by enthusiasts worldwide as a time to embrace, promote, and share the use of fountain pens.

Some may see fountain pens as old fashioned, fiddly and messy. Not me, because for me, every day is a fountain pen day and it has been since I started to write with one at school.

There is something about the way that the ink flows across the paper as you write, the weight of the pen in your hand and how the nib adjusts to your writing style. And, let’s be honest here, there are some beautiful pens to choose from. There is a pen for everyone be your preference minimalist chic or ornate and bejeweled. Your fountain pen is an extension of your personal style, a reflection of you, it makes a statement. Oh, and did I mention the coloured inks … but I digress, that’s a whole other post, along with a discussion as to the best type of paper and notebook...

A fountain pen also forces you to slow down and think about the words you are using. In its own way it is an act of mindfulness in our busy, instant, electronic world. Yes, they can be a bit messy and fiddly but once you have found YOUR pen, it’s a pen for life, you have a connection. I have quite a large collection of pens but I have two that are always at my side where ever I go, a Parker Harlequin I have had since I was a teenager and a Mont Blanc Meisterstuck that I bought with my first annual bonus.

And that’s the thing with fountain pens, they are markers of time, memory makers and old friends. You remember the pain, love and joy that they help you express from angst ridden teen diaries, to grown up hopeful journals and letters to granny. The actual written word that contains all our hopes and emotions flows from a nib in an experience not replicated with a keyboard, and I for one love the comfort and pleasure that brings.

HERE ARE SOME OF OUR FAVOURITE IDEAS FOR CELEBRATING FOUNTAIN PEN DAY:

1. Write a letter to someone with your favorite fountain pen and ink. Under your signature you can write the pen & ink you used.

2. Go through your stationery collection and use some of those you have saved for a special occasion. Surprise a friend with that vintage paper.

3. Post on your favorite forum or blog by writing it out with your fountain pen. Then take a picture of it and post it. Again, under your signature write what pen & ink you used.

4. Instead of typing Facebook status updates and tweets on Twitter, write them and upload a picture of them (mention the reason that you’re doing it as well.)

5. Turn off your computer and put down the phone and spend some time just writing.

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This post used some resources available from fountain pen day where you can find more fountain pen love.