Tags
I love Pinterest. I love that there is a way to save and organize specific images, items, recipes, etc online as you find it and it does not clog your bookmarks. Gone are the days where you scratch your brain and shake up the internal file memory for those crucial keywords. My committee and I are even using Pinterest to save ideas for a free kids’ health fair we will be hosting in early March. Fantastic use of 21st century social media!
But of late, the home page on Pinterest has lost its appeal – no longer am I scanning friends’ pins for inspiration for my own boards or even mere interest at what others find worthy to pin. Does this mean I should have my head examined for my lack of willingness to participate in the latest and greatest social media platform? What has gone wrong? My friends and the entire Pinterest community should be spurning me on to expand the clothes in my closet with funds I may or may not have, find new ways to decorate my dream home, and spend hours in the kitchen to create tasty new dishes (and from there, find the appropriate crowd to feed). Or on some days, plan for an extravagant, detail-rich wedding full of personal touches along with dates to go on once we are married and/or have children — all the while, skipping over the important fact that I still need to find my husband-to-be. (Paging Cupid!)
As a freshly minted 30-year-old woman and with friends of a similar age, the biggest frustration are the descriptions of the pins and thus the corresponding pins. Should we not be seeking “elegant”, “sophisticated”, “youthful”, “fun”, and “aspiration” to describe our boards? Not “CUTE” or it’s more egregious moniker “SOOOO CUTE!!”. When I read “SOOOO CUTE!!”, my brain immediately turns off. Rather than expecting amazing, I anticipate something that will only expand on the status quo. “CUTE” should be saved for the children of the world. I have been making a conscious effort of late to refer to myself and my female friends as “women”, not “girls”. Forward progression people! Let’s remember our childhoods with fondness and keep a child’s joy in our hearts but not surround ourselves with childish things!!
A few people I follow do embody the direction and focus I want my own Pinterest boards to reflect. And it is for them and their beautifully imagined world that I continue to peruse the home page. To gasp and sigh in awe and imagine amazing possibilities. Dreams do come true – don’t they??
Tess, the Lioness
UPDATE: This morning a coworker mentioned he needed help from a fellow man in the office with tying a tie. I immediately leapt from my seat and rushed to his office where I went straight to one of my boards. And what should be there but a graphic I pinned on how to tie a tie 10 different ways! He of course chose the one with the fewest steps and after about 10 min of “practicing”, he stopped by with a perfect Windsor knot. A great day for Pinterest!