I’ve recently started writing with a new LAMY Pen. My French friend told me it’s what she and her classmates used in third-grade penmanship class. In America, we just used wooden pencils - perhaps that’s why my handwriting is so bad…
But let’s rewind… My adventures as a pen enthusiast began relatively early. When I was 13, studying for my bat mitzvah, my Rabbi loaned me his Pilot Precise V5. He had all the colors - purple, green, red, navy, and black in a cup on his desk. "It's all I use," he said. For 26 years, it was all I used too.
I used it all day, every day, throughout high school and college. It took notes, drafted outlines, underlined books... It took me through McKinsey, various tech jobs, and my MBA. In my thirties, when I read The Artist’s Way and started writing morning pages, that was the pen I used. I must have gone through hundreds by now. Many have exploded and died on planes. I cannot count the times I have arrived home in San Francisco, fingers stained with navy ink. These pens get used until they run out… while others sit untouched.
Over the years, I have tried many times to find an alternative pen. I’m a believer in change, after all. I would go into a stationery store and scribble on the little white strips. “No, not this one. Not this one either.” I would sometimes buy one out of guilt, and it would be added to the collection of pens on my desk that I never used. The V5 always reigned supreme. With it, I wrote more easily, with less cramping. Three pages without stopping, even!
However, over the years, after writing hundreds of pages of notes, or journal entries about disappointments in love and life, even my beloved Pilot started feeling a little… baggage’d. So when a new stationery shop opened in my neighborhood, I felt that old, hopeful pang—“Maybe there’s something inside I might like?”
I entered the shop and whipped out my phone.
“I’d like to find a new pen,” I told ChatGPT.
“I have used the Pilot Precise V5 Extra Fine Navy for as long as I can remember. I love it, but I am ready for an upgrade.”
ChatGPT spat out a list instantly: Uni-ball Signo, Pilot Hi-Tec-C, Pentel EnerGel… I tried pen after pen, each scribble disappointing. My hopes began to fall—another day stuck with my Pilot Precise.
But then I saw there was an addendum to the ChatGPT response. I held the phone up to my face closer.
“If you want a slight upgrade in feel or design… LAMY Safari Fountain Pen (Extra Fine nib) - sleek, contemporary design, precise line.”
Did I just read the words… upgrade? What was that about sleek, contemporary design? All these years, buying pens at Walgreens and CVS. All these years, my hand cramping, giving up on journaling when I have more to say… All the years of embarrassing chicken scratch, debating between handwriting or emailing the thank you card, the tired grip, the explosions, and stained clothes… There’s something that might be better, you say?
But a fountain pen? How stuffy! What do they even cost, $100?
I turned to the store clerk and asked. “Do you by chance sell LAMY?”
“Yes!” she replied. We went to the front, under the glass. I saw the price tag—$26.
“Twenty-six dollars?!” I blurted out loud. I'd always assumed fountain pens were absurdly priced—but here was an “upgrade,” for less than a Manhattan diner salad.
I held the pen. My hands immediately sank in. The flattened edges on the grip let my fingers rest gently. As I pressed the tip of the pen to the paper, ink flowed out perfectly. Not too thick, not too thin - a beautiful, smooth line. As my hand glided across the page, I found myself wondering, “Why did nobody tell me…?”
I bought it on the spot, and a pack of ink refills too.
Since then, I haven’t picked up a Pilot. Many pages into journaling this week, my hand hasn’t cramped once. At age 39, my first fountain pen has arrived—and it looks like the start of something beautiful.
Thank you for reading.
~ Michelle
Do you have a favorite pen…? Feel free to drop a suggestion below!
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