You know what I don’t understand?
I don’t understand the assumption that everyone who is on Pinterest is also into crafts. Or likes to DIY. Or likes to cook meals from scratch. Or has a desire to turn herself (or himself) into the perfect, crafting, gourmet meal-cooking, DIY-er.
Isn’t Pinterest just a virtual, uhhhh, pin board? Isn’t it just a new way to bookmark things we found on the internet that we like and want to come back to?
I have about five three-ring notebooks in storage full of recipes I’ve torn out of magazines and home decor ideas that I love. Pinterest is nothing new. It’s just more organized and was invented by really smart people.
And the assumption that we should actually be doing the things we pin? That pressure doesn’t make any sense to me either. There are no rules with Pinterest. We just pin what we like. And sometimes we revisit it and sometimes we don’t.
I’m not a crafter. In a way I kind of want to be a crafter because I think my kids’ grandparents would really appreciate it. But I’m just not.
And I’m not a DIY-er. I prefer to find an idea I love and find someone far more talented and qualified to do it for me. We’ve saved ourselves lots of fights, arguments, and trips to the hardware store.
But, boy, do I ever have some amazingly talented friends who can DIY and could probably have their own television show! (Emily and Hudson, I’m looking at you!)
Here’s the thing. Pinterest isn’t the problem. I love Pinterest. I love to see ideas I love all in one spot. I love to save ideas for supper right there on my FOOOOOD pin board so I’m not searching the same blogs over and over again for dinner ideas.
This shouldn’t be making us feel inadequate. If you don’t like to craft, don’t craft. The crafting mamas aren’t superior to the non-crafting mamas. And the cooking and baking mamas aren’t superior to the stylish mamas who look to Pinterest for fashion inspiration.
We’re not looking to Pinterest to validate us. We just look to Pinterest for inspiration as we try to exercise our different talents. Or just look for something new to fix our family for supper. (There are plenty of crock pot recipe pins on there. These aren’t gourmet recipes that are being pinned, friends.)
So, here’s the thing. Pinterest isn’t a tool used to measure our abilities to parent or maintain a loving home. And if it’s not used for anything serious, can’t we just use it for fun? Without pressure?
If you want to put cute little faces on your kids’ pancakes, go for it! If you want to create cute little tags for teacher appreciation gifts, then do it! If you’re like me, and want to throw big children’s birthday parties and baby showers every year, then have fun with that!
And if you like to pin and never do anything with your pins, that’s great, too!
Happy pinning, friends!
Exactly. Especially after having a baby it seemed like the race to have a perfect life got even more intense. And there’s no better place to get caught up in that than on Pinterest. It’s so easy to start believing everyone is doing all the things they pin. But they’re not! I know that I’m mostly just trying to make it through the day without having a baby puke on me. There’s not a ton of time to try to paint and distress a thrift store dresser. Although, I do have something like that pinned. You know, because one day I might. But, probably not. And that’s okay 🙂
THANK YOU…and amen!
I like the pretty pictures. I’m not a crafter or a DIY-er. I have tried some recipes and some toddler activities but I never thought that people would be on the race for a perfect life because of it. I just like the pretty pictures.
Agreed! I used pinterest to organize ideas for a baby shower I threw a couple of years ago. So great to have the visual.
AMEN! Thank you! I couldn’t agree more. I am not a crafter either. I need a sign in my house that says, “I. Do. Not. Craft.”
Yes. To all of that. Very well said, thank you!
I still haven’t really figured out Pinterest, but I have seen people say time and time again how they feel so much pressure to live up to some Pinterest-perfect ideal. I don’t get it. It’s just inspiration and organization, folks. No need to feel badly about yourself because someone else created rainbow-colored cake batter. – this is supposed to be fun!
yup! in fact, I don’t entirely get the whole “pinning as social media thing” because isn’t it just for YOUR interest?
not to be confused that I’m saying don’t pin your own things..totally do…but it’s not a must or anything like that to pin things you won’t come back to
I totally get what you’re saying, Kat. 🙂 There’s nothing “social” about Pinterest to me. Except I do love following my friends to find more great ideas from them.
AMEN, sister! This is great.
LIKE!
Thank you! I am constantly amazed by folks say they are “defeated” or “intimidated” by Pinterest. It seems to me people are just looking to be exasperated by something. Are you really so unsure of yourself that you think you’re supposed to master all those pins? Do you really think everyone else has an infinity pool and makes their own laundry detergent? It drives me nuts.
Agreed! The good news is that I’ve been seeing a lot of bloggers make similar points lately, so maybe the culture is changing. (The best thing I’ve read on the subject is by Lyz Lenz, if you haven’t already read it: http://www.lyzlenz.com/2013/05/pinterest-stress-aka-white-girl-problems/).
Whoa, I think you’ve hit on a WAY bigger issue here- how women put SO much pressure on one another and look for so many ways to divide “us” versus “them” instead of building one another up more. First it was the working-outside-the-home moms versus the stay-at-home-moms, then the DIY’ers vs the non-DIY’ers, and the crafters vs. the non-crafters, and now we are on to those-who-make-stuff-from-Pinterest vs. those-that-don’t. How ridiculous is that? I think there are two main ways to approach this issue, and women in general need to do more of both. The first is to not divide other women and judge other women less and build them up more. I think you do this particularly well, with your build-em-up blog posts. The second thing that I think women need to do is to make a conscious decision to not let the judging and divisiveness get to us, and show some stronger self esteem. I am guilty of this too. Like many other women I am pretty sensitive, which means like many women I am sensitive to even the slightest whiff of judgement. It is really easy to make a woman feel guilty, and I feel like that is a weapon women use against each other so often- even and especially at many churches. It is hard and sometimes scary to go out on a limb and say “this is the way I do things, and if you don’t like it, that’s just fine” or even better “I’m not going to let people make me feel guilty about xyz.” The more women flaunt their great self-esteem (instead of their guilt), and show how they say no or are happy even without pinterest-perfect lives, the more socially acceptable strong female self esteem will become.
Totally agree. I pin books that I want to read, recipes I want to try, quotes that inspire me and I use it to plan my kids parties. It doesn’t make me feel inadequate, I actually find it really helpful!
My thoughts exactly. I have three ring binders full of stuff I’ve ripped out over the years. Why is Pinterest any different? I have a food board full of fattening, calorie laden recipes I pinned ‘just in case”. They aren’t part of my daily life. But my exercise board has actually been helpful and inspirational. It reminds me not to eat those calorie filled recipes. 🙂
Ummmm . . . all I can say is “I think you read my mind!”
As much as I enjoy a cute, pin-worthy baby shower or party, I have really started enjoying simple parties more. I don’t need a pink lemonade served in a mason jar, please just give me a can of pop from a cooler. Parties, big or small, are so much fun. Nothing against cupcake towers, birthday banners…I just love when I can throw some paper plates and cups on my counter and not fuss with the “pretty.” I am planning my daughter’s 1st birthday…of course, I used Pinterest for theme inspiration. But I am not going to get caught up in the fuss. I am not a blogger, so who cares if my friends and family eat off of paper plates. It’s not going on the internet anyway, ha!
THANK YOU. I’m so tired of people talking about how they feel inadequate because of Pinterest. Umm, a website can’t make you feel that way…only you can. I love Pinterest:)
AMEN sister! I see people knock it all the time but I LOVE it. It is so inspiring and i love the organization and the fact that I have now tossed out most of my cluttery notebooks full of magazine clippings! Long Live pinterest!
oh, how I agree with this..thanks for posting this!!!
Sending you a big, fat “AMEN!” from Arkansas!
i always forget that other people may look at my pinterest boards. they’re really just for me. i rarely look at other people’s boards – i just pin stuff i find online that i love and want to remember or revisit. i used pinterest in an unconventional way recently. i made a board for a role i recently played (a marine who came home from the middle east with a prosthetic leg). suffice it to say, i had to do a LOT of research to prepare for that role and it just made sense to pin it all rather than printing up everything. images can be so evocative and i often use them to inspire my performances. i must admit that i was concerned that anyone who came across that board might think it odd (or at worst disrespectful) without further explanation, but it’s been interesting to see that people repinned from that board. it was clear to me that young, female veterans “got” it – that for whatever reason, someone knew about and was giving weight and validation to some of the experiences that had been through. i’m guessing that this was something they didn’t expect to find on pinterest of all places 🙂
EXACTLY! I had piles and piles of articles, recipes, room decor, outfits, etc. that I had ripped from magazines, catalogs, etc. I was able to weed through them, find them online (from their magazine sources, etc) and PIN them in a place where I don’t have paper clutter that causes an argument with Scott! (he HATED when I would store magazines for reference because he hates clutter)
I use pinterest a LOT- for getting dressed, recipe ideas, etc. It’s a great place to store information for reference.
I’m always baffled why people say they get stressed out from Pinterest or it makes them feel inadequate… I just don’t get it- a computer screen can’t make you feel bad- only you can make yourself feed bad!