What a Pencil Can Teach Us About Mental Health

The National Pencil Day is on March 30th or 31st and it is the perfect time to explore these old writing tools and to remember - also what a pencil could teach us, even about inner values.

This simple instrument has meant so much to mankind. It allows people to express themselves, helps them to let their creativity run wild and supports all kinds of doodling and scribbling.

Did you know that a pencil can write up to about 45,000 words?

Have you ever thought about what kind of images and emotions a pencil can give us?

How many hands have held the pencil - or rather the pencil was held?

Pencils have been in use for a long time and have undergone many changes in their design, changing themselves, and also changing the world, changing us.

This is a tale by - Paulo Coelho 

A boy was watching his grandmother write a letter. At one point, he asked: ‘Are you writing about me?’ His grandmother stopped writing her letter and said to her grandson: ‘I am writing about you, actually, but more important than the words is the pencil I’m using. I hope you will be like this pencil when you grow up.’

Intrigued, the boy looked at the pencil. It didn’t seem very special. ‘But it’s like any other pencil I’ve seen!’ ‘That depends on how you look at things. It has five qualities which, if you manage to hang on to them, will make you a person who is always at peace with the world.

‘First quality: you are capable of great things, but you must never forget that there is a hand guiding your steps. We call that hand God, and he always guides us according to his will.

‘Second quality: now and then, I have to stop writing and use the sharpener. That makes the pencil suffer a little, but afterwards, he’s much sharper. So you, too, must learn to bare certain pains and sorrows, because they will make you a better person.

‘Third quality: the pencil always allows us to use an eraser to rub out any mistakes. This means that correcting something we did is not necessarily a bad thing; it helps to keep us on the road to justice.

‘Fourth quality: what really matters in a pencil is not its wooden exterior, but the graphite inside. So always pay attention to what’s happening inside you.

‘Finally, the pencil’s fifth quality: it always leaves a mark. In just the same way, you should know that everything you do in life will leave a mark, so try to be conscious of that in your every action.’

(Paulo Coelho de Souza is a Brazilian lyricist and novelist)

My thoughts

You see, in life, in your very own life journey, dare to place yourself in someone else's hands.

Embrace the hurdles and difficulties; let these challenges shape you and foster your growth.

Take errors and setbacks, not as defeat, but as a chance to learn, to refine, to evolve. Cherish the inherent qualities within you, those invisible yet invaluable traits that define your true self.

Strive, but to leave a lasting, positive impression in the world - an indelible mark that echoes kindness, resilience, and potential.

Because, in the grand scheme of life's vivid canvas, with your courage, perseverance, and grace, you can indeed become the finest pencil there ever is.

My thoughts on this Day from last year

I also wrote about National Pencil Day / National Crayon Day and National Pencil Day  2023 on my UX Design blog - back then I already pointed out the welcome side effects of drawing on various mental effects....

• Improvement of analytical skills
• Concentration and meditation
• Eye - Hand coordination
• Communication
• Mental effects

And finally, it's fun - what's better than filling an empty page and bringing our thoughts and considerations to life? Drawing is fun and should bring joy.