The pencil

When you want to put down your ideas or thoughts on paper, you must write. Whether the utensil in question used is a pen, brush, or [more than often] a pencil, words come out on paper. The characters in these words are gibberish. You may ask, “But these words a very formulated and make the English language what it is, do they not? Why would they be gibberish if it’s what makes you literate and smart?” In reply to such a statement I would start out by pointing out that literacy and intelligence do not have to go together, and that it is just society which has made this so (not on purpose necessarily). More importantly I would ask you to look at a piece of Chinese script and try to think about them as English, while analyzing how the lines in the script make seemingly random lines and curves. It would look like total gibberish to you thinking about it that way; the lines would look like they’re going everywhere. Well guess what? That’s the way the Chinese see our script with no background in English. We speak language. We write language. We think language. And yet with all three of these methods sometimes thoughts cannot truly manifest themselves.

And although I sincerely believe some language cannot be put into words, I also believe in the pencil; the pencil is the symbol of the mind, the symbol of hope and peace. The pencil and all writing utensils of its sort are some of the greatest things mankind has ever made. I know that with a pencil I can keep thoughts that I would forget afterwards forever otherwise, make my own thoughts into what I want them to be, or convey my thoughts to someone else. The point is to do something with thoughts. The human mind is a wonderfully vast place with more potential than people normally unlock. The pencil allows information to be transferred from your brain to other brains, and vice versa. This, I believe, is the key to success for both a person and society collectively. People may find it easier to speak thoughts, but truly great thoughts usually come out on paper, not mp3s.

How do I personally value the pencil, you may ask? I keep a pencil with me whenever I’m not in my pajamas/underwear or something without pockets. The act of doing so is not out of insanity at all, but rather habit. With my pencil I can review thoughts I may have thought important later on in the day by writing them down. With my pencil I can become a better human being, writing for myself and understanding myself. With my pencil I can see the world start and end before my eyes in a story that I could write. How do I personally value the pencil, you may ask? A lot. The pencil in my pocket right at this very moment is merely 25 cents in monetary value, but the truth is it is worth millions. For some the pencil could be worth entire nations, depending on what they do with that pencil. In this same way the pencil can be worth that much, but in a negative sense. The power and value of the pencil is gauged by the user holding it, not the wood and graphite that makes it. One shouldn’t ask me how I personally value the pencil, but rather themselves.