Right at the moment in front of me, there’s an ink cartridge for a Pilot G2 pen. The ink cartridge in the pen I'm using at the moment is almost out, so it's only a matter of time before I'm going to use a new one.

I think that the ink cartridge is like a second-string player on the bench. Right now he’s getting ready, doing stretches and warm ups. Then he goes over all the parts of speech and punctuation marks that I expect him to know.

It's making me imagine a person being unable to make, say, brackets in their writing because the ink cartridge just doesn’t think it’s the right punctuation mark. That’s because this cartridge is a free-spirited artist, so there are a ton of creative spellings, because the cartridge wants to break free of the confines of traditional spelling and grammar rules.

The person using the pen starts doodling. The doodles become more and more creative until the person's letters are quasi-illuminated manuscripts, replete with unusual spellings that are somehow appropriate for the letter.

Of course, the pen cartridge I'm using now is a Pilot V5 cartridge. They follow directions, creating thin, proper lines. They are mildly annoyed if a child colors outside of them.

And wouldn't you know it, we're out of time. Be well. Resist shearing. Embrace failure.