May 29, 2021
Writing In Pencil
Guess what. Sometimes I journal in the mornings, and when I do, I do it with a good old-fashioned Dixon Ticonderoga #2 pencil. (Dixon Ticonderoga is the only good pencil.)
I don’t do this to be offbeat or hipster or intentionally analog—well, I DO do it to be intentionally analog, I have enough screen time in my life thankyouverymuch—
I do it because I LIKE IT.
I like the smell of pencil shavings and wood. I like the scratchy sound it makes as I write. I like being able to erase my mistakes. I like that I can lean back and prop my journal up on my knees, holding the pencil upside down. I like feeling the friction as the pencil moves across the page. Writing in pencil is a sensory smorgasbord.
I’ve tried a mechanical pencil, and that’s okay, too. It’s not as delightfully scratchy, and the pencil smell is gone, but most of the other advantages are still there. Plus it’s a smoother, neater writing experience, and you don’t have to worry about sharpening.
I also like a plain ballpoint pen—Papermate ‘Write Bros.’ in black is my jam—but my morning journaling can be really sloppy sometimes, and the pen makes it worse. Using a pencil helps me slow down.
I often journal about the experience of using a pencil, and in my journal I often debate whether or not I should switch back to the pen. (A fascinating future read for my niece & nephew one day, lol.)
Anyway. What’s something you do just because you like it, even if it doesn’t make practical sense?
About Sam
Samantha Pollack is a Copywriter & Creative Director who works with ethically minded, mission driven businesses who are actively trying to reshape our culture (and possibly tear down the patriarchy). She’s also the founder of The Highly Sensitive Business Owner, a 12-week online program that helps HSPs & neurodivergent business owners create healthier, more sustainable systems in their work.
Sam also writes about feminism, privilege, pop culture, entrepreneurship, the creative process, and whatever else is on her mind. She currently lives in Asheville, NC.
Emails for cult thought leaders.
(Personality included.)
Want to learn how to craft emails that inspire action and engagement WITHOUT the “tried and true” (cough: patriarchal) norms we’ve all been taught?
I’m doing it, and I can show you how to do it, too.
(But sometimes, I also like to write about the books I’m reading, or the creative process, or the entrepreneurial experience, or why I hate Steve Jobs, or how I met my BFF. I’ll send you emails like that, too.)
*Just kidding. It’s only an email list.
Books. Cats. Rants. Drawrings.
(and every couple months or so, an unexplained absence 🤷🏻)
