Lately it seems like I've come across so many blog posts and articles about how much people hate Pinterest, and I just don't get it.
From the deepest desires also come the deadliest hate.
-Socrates
I guess it's all the same stuff we used to get about Facebook, but Pinterest is just the new hot thing. I'm going to share an actual, personal conversation I was privy to on Valentine's Day. It was about Facebook, but really could apply to any method of communication (including the much-bemoaned lost art of face-to-face conversation, a telephone, or TV as well as all sorts of online social media).
"I feel like such a failure. This morning one of my friends posted pictures of red velvet cupcakes she made for Valentine's Day, and I still have to run to Target to get some candy for my kid."
"That's what I hate about Facebook."
"Me too! I mean, why do people have to go bragging about all the awesome stuff they do? It just makes me feel like crap."
Okay, a) baking cupcakes is fun for a lot of people and is a far cry from The Eiffel Tower out of pastry dough. They might have even been a mix or...gasp...store bought! They might have been the one thing that woman did all week/month/year that made her feel like a success. b) since when did we get so insecure that, instead of reacting by saying "cool!" or "pretty!" or "what the heck?", we now say, "That witch! She's just trying to make me look bad."
Hello! Copernicus called to say the world does not revolve around you.
Let's get it together, people. Your friends are not posting pictures of their kids' messy rooms or the stack of dishes in the sink, but that doesn't mean those things aren't there. They are posting pictures of things they find pretty or cool or weird or inspiring. Things that make them happy and ideas they want to remember.
Let's take my "studio" space, for example, and the Pinterest board I have for it. Some of the pictures I've pinned are for storage ideas. Some are for colors I like. And some are merely for if I ever hit the lottery and can create the space of my dreams. Do you know what my studio really looks like? It's a corner of my bedroom that could qualify me for a spot on Hoarders, according to The Pit Boss. It's nothing to get your panties all wadded up in a bunch about, and it's certainly nothing to make you or anyone else feel insecure.
It seems that this is what women do. I don't know if it's from the lack of team sports growing up or the estrogen, but we need to learn to cheer each other on. We need to learn to stop comparing ourselves to one another. We need to stop tearing one another down to make ourselves look better. We are powerful and creative and amazing. We are artists and mothers and leaders and all kinds of other incredible things. Let's celebrate the beauty and wonder in the world instead of plotting our own downfall.
P.S. Thanks to BrainyQuote!
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I just read a news article about how people who use social media are more depressed for exactly this reason. It never occurred to me to think that people where bragging. Maybe that's because people I interact with are just as likely to talk about the cupcakes they set on fire in the oven. It does take a special kind of selfcenteredness to see other people's posts and immediately think they are really. Meant to make you feel bad.
ReplyDeleteI almost never leave comments on blogs, but when I read your post here I thought "right on!". You're so right. We need to celebrate the little enjoyable or productive things in our days - not feel less-than or envious of someone's life in the face of their successes. It's true, we don't post many photos of the messy rooms or the burned dinner - but we all have those things in our lives. C'mon everyone, we're all human here. Let's enjoy each other! Thanks for the great post.
ReplyDeleteQuote of the day..."Let's enjoy each other!"
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by and leaving a comment.