It’s wonderful to be delighted again by the many treasures we have around us.
This morning, my eye fell on the Ink Bar – my collection of bottled fountain pen inks – and I felt a thrill of luxury, fun, and gratitude.
One of my favorite ways to feel could be summed up in the phrase, “I get THIS!” The first time I ever uttered that sentence I was very young, perhaps 7, and my grandmother had just made cinnamon toast. I’d never tasted it before and it quite literally blew my young mind! After I’d eaten half a piece, she offered me the other half and I said, “I get THIS?” I could hardly believe the bounty, the delight, the deliciousness, the generosity. That moment glows in me still (and it’s a testament to how little it can take to change a life, isn’t it? I hope my grandmother knew how much I loved her for that seemingly small moment of kindness and shared pleasure).
I take much pleasure now from the Ink Bar, including of course its name; do we love things with names even more, I wonder? There is certainly much to love on this small cabinet top – the colors, the choices, the bottles, the stoppers and lids. I especially enjoy noting the different provenances of the inks -the French inks, German inks, Japanese inks, Italian inks, American inks… All of this connects me with a world of pens and writing, international travel, craft, and joyful living.
I love sharing all of this, too. Before the pandemic when pen people came over, I invited them to fill up at the Ink Bar. It’s fun to test a number of colors, using a dip pen, and then settle on the one chosen to write the next chapter of the journal, the poems, the novel. And I love using these inks with a dip pen whenever friends gather for a fire ritual of release and blessing.
This week I have been thinking of the work of Harvard scholar John Miles Foley who wrote about words and meaning. Through him I learned about the concept of “immanence” which means, essentially, that every word unfolds into an infinite web of meaning through reference, story, personal and shared memory, and more. You can trace anything forever and never reach the end of meaning.
This simple thing in my house – the Ink Bar – unfolds into so many beautiful thoughts, memories, desires, and connections.
The things around us are aglow with meaning, with life, and with the potential for pleasure. Noticing awakens all of this for us and then we can luxuriate in that most delicious state of being: I get THIS!
