Source: google.com via Rachel on Pinterest
Pinterest is fun.
Pinterest is inspiring.
Pinterest is a great way to collect images for motivation or to keep track.
Pinterest is also the greatest online mall.
In this infographic from April of this year, Pinterest is said to account for 40% of all social media driven purchases.
What started as a fun place to share images with your friends has been infiltrated by big brands and magazines. Feels a lot like Twitter where the conversation keeps getting interrupted by sponsored tweets.
I like the inspiration and I like the vision boards and the recipes but the dark side of Pinterest worries me.
Do you pin those gorgeous photos of cupcakes and nicoise salads and then make them? Or do they languish on a recipe board while you make the same old meals for your family?
Do you have a board dedicated to your ultimate style wardrobe with cuddly hand knit angora sweaters and luxurious leather boots and do you save up and buy them? Or do you wear the same clothes and make the same wardrobe shopping mistakes over and over again?
Are you comparing your life to clippings from Real Simple and blogs by professional homemakers with a passion for crafting?
As they say, comparison is the thief of joy.
Pinterest isn’t the only place we compare our lives. Facebook is the greatest comparison platform of them all.
Sociologists at Utah Valley University surveyed 425 college students about their use of Facebook and their beliefs about their lives and happiness. The results aren’t surprising. At least not to me. From an article about the study:
The more time students spent on Facebook, the more they thought others had it better than they did… people who spent less time socializing with friends in cyberspace and more time socializing with them in real life were less likely to report they were unhappy.
I can imagine that Pinterest users have a similar pattern of happiness tied to how much time they spend browsing and pinning.
We’re not all going to delete our Facebook or Pinterest accounts. We shouldn’t have to. There has to be a way to enjoy the goods of social media.
So how do you stop comparing? How do you turn your back to envy and wanting more?
Less pinning, more doing.
Make those crafts and bake that cake. Pin activities and projects that you’ll actually complete. And take some of your Pinterest time to do them.
Pin for your life today.
Find clothing that is in your price range and suits you. Better yet, pin clothing that you already have. It will give you a clearer picture of matching your current wardrobe with new pieces.
Be real.
Those exquisite handcrafted themed birthday parties, the one with the hand sewn loot bags with each child’s name on them, they take time. Time and a lot of resources. It’s okay to keep things simple and outsource a few things. Be yourself and enjoy it. Maybe you’re not the parent that’s going to bake three dozen cupcakes. Maybe you’re the parent that’s going to lead a group of four year-olds in the Hokie Pokie.
Do you use Pinterest? Does it make you want more or feel envy?





I am a mother, wife and writer from Vancouver, Canada, currently living in the 





