Just a Pencil

One day I was writing some notes in a journal with a pencil; it was a Papermate "Naturals" pencil (no lacquer or finish, but a nice pencil). I even wrote a quick letter to "Mom" with it, on some stationary I had. In retrospect, it was probably a crummy pencil.

I was playing around at the same time with a fountain pen I had, loading up some ink (Private Reserve-Grey Flannel). I spilled a bit, and it slopped off on my pencil. With no finish, that pencil absorbed the ink in nothing flat.

I wrote (10) more letters to Mom with that same pencil. That the pencil with no finish absorbed the grey ink the way it did only gave it more character, stained wood and all. In some ways, I'm even sad to sharpen that pencil down, and sharpen away the ink stains. It's just a silly pencil, but character is everything!

Perhaps one day...we will all need a pencil (because that's all there will be). Maybe we shouldn't forget that!

That is all.

P.S. Maybe I should just put that pencil away and save it.

(I dunno)

I know, I'm this weird sort of dude. I live way out in the country and some of the simpler things in life mean things to me which probably mean nothing to most other people. I know.

I like cows even (and that's pretty weird in itself)! Sorry, can't help it.

My animals are important to me, strange as that may be. All of them.

They are a part of life, beasts of burden as they may be.

I have this anal thing where I have to record all of our calves in pencil every spring. It can never be pen. It's not about making a mistake (although I have with the sex a couple times); it's about the underpinning concept that a pencil came from a living thing, a tree, and our calves come from living things too. Some come to pass at market, but at the end of the day we are all...like a pencil; we live, we have a purpose / utility, we get worn out... and we pass on.

Some of us serve a higher purpose than others, but in the end we all have a purpose.

...like a pencil.

Double post...sorry.

a reply to: Justso

I beg your pardon?

a reply to: Justso

That made me chuckle a bit!

Perhaps you didn't really read what I posted (or absorb the meaning).

You might think I'm "tripping", but not really (I don't do that, honestly...not even sure I know what it is)

You see, there is a connection between things alive and things not so much. (shrug) Sorry if you are unable to make the connection.

But...thanks anyway.

P.S. Starred your posts anyway.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

You look for a purpose and compare yourself to a pencil whom has a purpose of putting ink to a paper, so if you sharpen the pencil does the purpose change for it?

a reply to: tikbalang

Very good!

The "purpose" you refer to is recording a note, a moment, a thought. So, if you 'sharpen' the pencil do you lose the moment, do you diminish the moment...or, is the moment contained in the written word? (Indeed it probably is...and this is exactly the point). It's not the shavings of the pencil, but rather in the history the lead (graphite and wax actually) leaves behind.

a reply to: Justso

No worries...just read on.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

im bad at philosophy.....

So, let me put this a different way. It seems there are a few people reading this thread and perhaps I have been a bit confusing or cryptic (didn't mean to be).

In the forest, the trees are the 'elders'; they live, unspeaking, for many hundreds of years, unspeaking, but watching over the ground and the critters below. Without "eyes" they "see" (experience maybe) many things; they see fire, they see floods/rain and they "see" logging. They "see" loss, they see growth...they see birth and death.

If a tree is cut down and made into lumber, the character of the wood lives on. Sometimes it warps, or cups...and sometimes it takes on a completely different personality, but it is still 'alive" (in a manner of speaking). It's why people like real wood so much.

A pencil is different. Though it is made from a cedar tree (most good ones anyway), it also has another property. In the hand of a writer, it can record history; it can be used to write down things of the moment, things which are part of our daily lives. Can a "pen" do this? Well, yes, it can, but not in the same way. You see, a pen has no soul, it is just an object. A pencil on the other hand does have a soul, because of the tree it comes from. It is inspiration.

Though a pencil is inanimate, its construct comes from heritage...a tree. It has fiber, like we say "the fiber of our being". A pen does not have that same fiber...it's just a "plastic" thing. A pencil has personality, albeit subtle, but so is that of a tree.

And so, the words recorded by a pencil are part of the soul of not only the person writing those words, but of the pencil itself. They are history.

Yes, it's subtle, but if you think about it...it's real.

Oh, and one more thing...pencils don't live forever. They wear down, get old and short lived.

Just like us.

I'm a very tactile and visual person, so in some odd way I can appreciate this, albeit not in exactly the same manner.

I love pencils. I used to absentmindedly chew on the metal parts that housed the erasers. All my pencils were dented with teeth marks as a consequence of this.

For some reason, I also always loved the friction between the pencil tip and those large, parallelogram shaped stand-alone erasers. As such, I would find myself drawing random symmetrical doodles on them. I would usually start with a diamond, then draw a circle inside the diamond, then divide the circle into halves, then draw small triangles within each hemisphere, and so on and so forth. Eventually the eraser became covered in pencil markings and useless for erasing anything, as it would simply smear pencil and eraser dust all over whatever it touched.

When they reached this stage of unsuitability for the classroom, I would begin whittling chunks out of the eraser - usually using the pencil tip as well. Digging, cutting, and prying pieces loose to create shapes. Between all the doodling and whittling, I'd end up with this very odd "eraser talisman" of sorts. And a very worn out, chewed up pencil as well.

Hmm. I wonder if there's any correlation between inhaled eraser shavings, accidentally ingested pencil wood, and cognitive issues. This could explain some things... :p

Peace.

I love pencils. I draw a lot so I can appreciate that.
There is something very satisfying in the way the pencil connects with the paper, the way it makes the marks, especially if is a bit blunted. I love the smell of it when is new, as well as paper.
I never thought about this but both paper and pencils come from trees; maybe what we feel is the resonance between the same essence in two different forms.
Nice rant, OP. Makes me think.
I mean it makes me think nice things

strange thread.

or my reality has completely lost the plot

I reckon that's probably it actually...

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk
Some people are like pencils. Some are long and tall, some are short and stubby. Some are sharp and some are dull. Did you hear the one about the broken pencil? Eh, it has no point.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

What's the largest pencil in the world?
Pennsylvania!!! Ha, ha!

I would love to have a pencil made out of a
fallen redwood tree. Imagine the resonance in that!

I get upset when people waste things & they
can't live out their usefulness! It's like they
are being deprived of fulfilling their purpose! Especially things from nature!

WOQ