I bought my first Montblanc pen in 2002, when I finished my first book, Fortune in Your Cookies. Twenty-four years later, I bought my second in Macau, a vibrant orange to pair with the classic black, as a way to thank myself.
In the last chapter of Inspiration from 9,000 Miles Away, I wrote about being kind to ourselves, and about its natural twin, thanking ourselves:
“When we say ‘thank you’ to someone, it is more than courtesy — it is a way of saying I see you. You matter. When we whisper it to ourselves, it does all that, and sometimes more. It steadies our steps and keeps us moving forward.
Perhaps that is the quiet power of gratitude turned inward. When it joins hands with the gratitude we offer outward, it creates a circle of kindness that flows between ourselves and others, carrying us all a little farther on the road we dare to walk.”
The black pen marked a beginning. The orange one marks a return. One reserved, one open. Two states of mind, one reminder: to say thank you, to others and to myself.
