Few versus Many

[RNHC]

As I gain experience, I had realize a few things about what I really like. Aesthetically, I realized that I really like metal pens, specifically white metal like stainless steel and sterling silver. Ironically, I realized that I prefer lighter weight pens. Lamy 2000 is the only pen in my relatively small collection that is not metal but I find it a perfect weight. Anyway, to keep a long story short, I find myself using only a several pens. The rest of my collection that I rarely use (or if I use it at all), I find myself justifying their place in my collection - this one has a sentimental value, this one looks cool, etc.

I'd like to think of myself as a practical person. I'd like to limit my collection to a few pens that I use but there are so many beautiful, wonderful pens out there that I find it hard to hold myself in line. One part of me says, YOLO (as my son puts it), and get and enjoy the pens that I like. More austere, practical side of me says if I am not really going to use it, it's a waste.

How would you go about it? Examine the pens I use often and limit my collection to "quality" versions (if possible) of pens with characteristics that I want; or if I see a pen that I like, I should get it and enjoy it even if I end up not using it in the long run. It's a dilemma. I'd like to live simply but does that require eliminating little materialistic joys of life?

[Wahl]

Life is too short to worry about things like this, just enjoy whatever you like.

[RNHC]

I should but I am at a point in my life where I've accumulated so much "stuff" that I really need to de-clutter. I am starting to feel like a hoarder. I have pens that's just gathering dust and taking up space in my home office. Pen is a tool. True appreciation of pen means using it for its intended purpose. And I am not doing that with majority of my pens.

[bluesea]

Aesthetically, practically I'm attracted to a number of vintage and contemporary pens. Not counting anything <$35, I have 8 pens at the moment, and even then there's an underlying feeling that its too many. Its a strange feeling of being bogged down, or something like that.

One of the difficulties (or pleasures) of keeping a small user collection, is the buying and selling. Theres always another wanted addition, and the difficult process of making room for it.

[RNHC]

I've read where others have implemented one in, one out rule. Perhaps that's the way to go about it. Like a museum, a permanent collection and a temporary collection of pens that I fancy at the moment but willingly would flip for another.

[Anne]

I have read, probably on FPN, of a person using this method: they took all of the pens they were Thinking of selling/letting go and put them away in a closet boxed up. Give yourself some time, maybe a month or two or three ( I am not good at getting rid of things either! ) and if you don't miss them or even Think about them - then allow yourself to let them go.
( I am really not good at this, that made me sad just writing that! But I really liked this method when I read it - I think that I could even do it. Eventually. )

Good Luck and try not to stress about it too much as others have said. Is there any way you could keep some 'in the family' and give them to a friend, or maybe your son?

[fountainpagan]

I understand your problematic.

I myself have been thinking about doing the same - but as Anne I am not good at letting things go. I have noticed, however, I have many a pen enclosed in their box without me even noticing I don't use it for months/year. I should, must, will do so, one day, let go some, and let others enjoy them, and give them the use they shoud have.
Congratulations to have gone this far, RNHC.

[Dreck]

If you feel strongly about de-cluttering and allowing material possessions to have less of a hold on you, then the "stick it in a box for a while" idea may be a good one.

[Kaputnik]

It doesn't bother me to have things around that I'm not using, unless they are taking up too much space, and that doesn't really apply to my pens. I keep saying that I'm going to sell some of mine, but when I get right down to it, I dislike the process of selling. I've given a couple away to people that I know in real life, that is away from the Internet, but something about Internet PIFs rubs me the wrong way.

I think that I would keep all of my vintage pens in any case. I've used all of them at least once, except for a couple that are pending restoration, and those will be used. After that, I enjoy having them around just for the history they represent, and there are a few that are good practical writers, with a place in my rotation.

Most of my better modern pens are keepers as far as I'm concerned, even if some don't get used that much. The ones that I would get rid of are some of the "good starter pens", of which I bought too many, and a few somewhat higher end ones that I never took too for one reason or another. I was thinking that if I ever overcome my reluctance to sell, I might bundle some of the cheapies in lots and sell them on eBay, and sell the few higher end ones in the classifieds, here or on FPN.

If there is any advice implied in this, it would be to group ones pens in ways that make sense to you, and decide what each grouping means to you. For example, my third tier vintage pen/pencil combos are unlikely to get much use beyond being filled once, but I think they are very nice display items after that. My modern Pilots, above the level of the Prera, are so much to my taste that I see no reason to get rid even of some duplicates. On the other hand, I have some Kawecos, low end Lamys, a couple of lesser Pelikans, and one Edison (among others), that do nothing for me, either as collectibles or writing instruments.

[inklord]

A while back, a very kind pen acquaintance gave me a beautiful mahogany/suede leather lined collectors box. It holds 20 pens. There and then came up the idea that I should probably limit myself to filling that box and then follow the "get rid of one before getting another one" rule. Like you, RNHC, I discovered what I really like to use, and those pens stay. The rest is simply given away. I also found that multiples of the really "enjoyable to use" pens satisfy my needs more than all those different designs, weights, and filling styles (not to mention nib characteristics). So I now have 2 sentimental value ones, and 18 daily writers. And that may be it. To get touchy-feely with all those seductive other pens, I go to my favorite B&M store where I usually end up buying more ink (or you could go to pen shows) or visit a fellow pen person. I found that my daily writers and I have thus grown much closer, and my pen life stays uncluttered. A further plus is that I have been able to gift people pens for the (selfish) reason of making room!

[TSherbs]

The urge to acquire, once you reach relative comfort and safety (food, shelter, clothing, warmth), should be resisted so that the soul can turn to more important matters of growth and connection to the divine within and without. I sometimes succeed, many times don't. But I try not to lie to myself about what is really "best." And then work in that direction in some point in each day. And I have made progress! Blessings.

[bwperdue]

I've also been thinking about this lately. At first, I thought that I was maybe simply no longer really interested in my pens. However, I figured out what it was: the pens I wasn't using were those that I couldn't see aging well. What I found out about myself is that I'm looking for things (not just pens) that are going to look and feel better the more they're used. If my mental picture of something ten years down the road looks shabby instead of patina'd, I'll tend to not use it, because the wear will make it less attractive, rather than more.

[Paddler]

As I gain experience, I had realize a few things about what I really like. Aesthetically, I realized that I really like metal pens, specifically white metal like stainless steel and sterling silver. Ironically, I realized that I prefer lighter weight pens. Lamy 2000 is the only pen in my relatively small collection that is not metal but I find it a perfect weight. Anyway, to keep a long story short, I find myself using only a several pens. The rest of my collection that I rarely use (or if I use it at all), I find myself justifying their place in my collection - this one has a sentimental value, this one looks cool, etc.

I'd like to think of myself as a practical person. I'd like to limit my collection to a few pens that I use but there are so many beautiful, wonderful pens out there that I find it hard to hold myself in line. One part of me says, YOLO (as my son puts it), and get and enjoy the pens that I like. More austere, practical side of me says if I am not really going to use it, it's a waste.

How would you go about it? Examine the pens I use often and limit my collection to "quality" versions (if possible) of pens with characteristics that I want; or if I see a pen that I like, I should get it and enjoy it even if I end up not using it in the long run. It's a dilemma. I'd like to live simply but does that require eliminating little materialistic joys of life?

Been there. Done that.
I collected and restored about 85 vintage pens, learning about their designs and performance. That was several years ago. Now, I have a few that I use all the time and the rest live in a couple of cigar boxes. I have been giving away the ones I don't use. The collection is down to about 40 and I do not buy any more of them -- just not interested in looking at pen guts any more. I look at my collecting (hoarding?) as a learning experience. I now know what the best pens are and can let the others be part of someone else's learning experience.

[RNHC]

In a way, majority of my pens are "boxed up and put away." They just sit in a drawer in my desk. I don't really see or think about them until I tell myself to get rid of them. As I am about to put them in their original boxes for disposal, I get enamored all over again. I am reminded why I got them in the first place. It's really tough letting go. I really need to "zen" and let go of my materialistic urges.

[Titivillus]

Unless you own only one pen you're going to have some that are not being used. But that can be said for a good amount of everything you own. I have had the joy of being evacuated for several weeks and also had to live in temporary housing for several more. The amount of things that I owned vs. what I had access to was a very small percentage. I would say look at each pen you own and if it not useful or beautiful sell it to fund a pen that is either of the two. Sometimes the enjoyment of a pen is the hunt to find and purchase it.

[pajaro]

Although I only regularly use two or three pens, I have about two hundred. I have often thought them a waste of resources, but then I sometimes go through them and play with one for a while, make a few scribbles and then pick another for enjoyment. There is no Pen Gestapo to say you must use every pen you possess for X amount of time. The different pen styles, the different nibs, the different filling systems are all fun to explore and have fun with. I have a collection of N scale electric trains, and it's the same. I don't use my foreign postage stamp collection on letters, the stamps are in albums and stock books.

There's too much emphasis by the martinets on a dogma that all pens must be written with. There are also the fountain pen bigots who don't think you should use a ballpoint. May the Lord save us and protect us from the intolerant.

[johniem]

And, there's no harm in one more!

[TSherbs]

And, there's no harm in one more!

Tell that to this camel: