Do you remember while in elementary school the day the teacher said it was ok to start writing in pen? There was a period in third or fourth grade I can't remember which one exactly when the teacher pointed out a few students who were given permission to write their assignments in pen. At that time erasable pens were the rage. Strange that pens were exciting to me even back then. My side interest is collecting fine pens...you know even coveting that Levenger pen display case. But I remember the day the teacher said it was ok after halfway through the fall's handwriting assignments. Writing in pen I felt accomplished and what I had to write was important since pen was alot more permanent.

I find handwriting quite fascinating. My dad has wonderful handwriting, very unusual for men. I wanted to write my name similar to how he did. Of course I couldn't sign Gonzales the same way anymore since I changed my name. But there was always something beautiful about nice handwriting. Maybe it was just the nuns way of beating into us that we should all have consistently the same writing style. While on the other hand, my mom's handwriting is like chicken scratching. I remember working for a doctor in high school and reviewing the day's charts to double check the billing codes. I could hardly make anything out. How do pharmacists understand doctor's handwriting? Just the other day we got a postcard from our friend vacationing in Hawaii. Her handwriting in cursive was absolutely beautiful on the tiny postcard. It's like art to me.

I guess the reason why I'm thinking about this is just that in the Hebrew and Greek culture the "word" was very special. Word spoken and written have a power or even imply action or contained its own energy(according to JB). We also learned yesterday in our study of John that the precision of words was valuable to the ancient Greek culture. For example there are 4 words to specify love. Love of the Divine, love of friend, romantic love and natural affection (wikipedia entry). So thinking about words and my strong interest writing, I'm wondering now how I can be more meticulous about the words I choose when writing my stories? How can I get the most impact of the selectively chosen words to convey the emotions behind the story? This is truly the power behind being an author. Hopefully I can rise to that challenge. Is there truly power in the hands of a writer? With all the blogs out there trying to make a difference, I guess the people's word could be.

For today I'll write it in pen just to make it feel more permanent and maybe feel more empowered.