It’s nice to have a hobby

Last May, I used a fountain pen for the first time. I had seen someone using one to take notes during a talk we were both attending, and asked him about it afterward. We chatted, he let me try his pen in my notebook, and the next day I bought one at the stationery shop in my neighborhood.

I’ve always enjoyed stationery, and have piles of used and unused notebooks, from Moleskines to Hobonichis, as evidence. But I had never really considered what tools I used to write in them. The difference, when I brought home my first fountain pen, was immediately evident. I appreciated the weight and balance of the pen, the smoothness of the nib, how easily the ink flowed.

So I began learning: in the last six months I’ve taught myself nearly as much about the world of pens, inks, and paper as I learned about any subject in school. Which is also to say that I’ve learned I know so little, and have so much more to explore. So I go to monthly meetups, where a few dozen acquaintances gather and share their newest purchases. I’ve joined a hundred-person WhatsApp group for enthusiasts in the Toronto area. And I’m on a first-name basis with helpful staffers in several of the city’s stationery stores. I’ve jokingly referred to these developments as my “gentle midlife crisis.”

This newfound obsession has many benefits. First, it has helped reorient me away from doing everything through my computer and phone. It has also given me an appreciation for forms of artistry, craftsmanship, and engineering that I would never before have even considered. It has broadened my social circles to people from different professional fields and of different generations. And it has given me rituals—cleaning and refilling pens, swatching new inks, writing letters and in my journal—that I enjoy deeply. Another way of making this last point is to say that it has helped to get me out of my head and back into my body, or at least my hands.

Becoming a fountain-pen nerd has given me a deeper understanding of why other people do the things they do. I have always had passionate and esoteric interests. But it’s nice to finally have a hobby, too.