Living in a Pinterest Perfect World
Have you ever considered that the place of inspiration boards gone wild; the largest cookbook known to man; the place that I can plan a wedding to a man I’ve not yet met, may be more detrimental than we think?
Living in a Pinterest world has made me realize just how much focus we put on perfection.
Think about the last few pins you’ve posted to your many pinboards.
Let me guess… weightloss tips or the ultimate workout guide. A picture of an immaculate kitchen with granite counter tops and the latest high end appliances. And last but not least, a recipe for the most scrumptious looking dessert you’ve ever laid eyes on (well at least until you hit refresh).
Was I close?
Have you tried those weightloss or workout tips? Can your pocketbook afford that kitchen? How about that recipe, have you attempted it yet?
I’m betting not. And you know why? Our lives are just not that perfect.
I love Pinterest as much as anyone else (working my way to 5k pins at-the-mo), though I’ve come to realize that the mindless hours spent pinning away is another reason we feel alienated from relationships (friends, family or otherwise).
It’s a reason why we find ourselves comparing our lives to those of our co-workers or celebrities on TV. It’s a reason why we end up feeling as though we don’t measure up, our lives are cut short of glory, and that our lives are somehow inadequate compared to others.
In all honesty, most of our lives don’t look like the pictures you see on Pinterest. And you can thank Photoshop and PicMonkey filters for that. Our lives are not sparkly, with fun colored confetti spread on the table top surrounding a perfectly constructed multi-layer rainbow cake.
Our lives look more like the breakfast bar, misshapen and deformed from living in the bottom of our purse; eaten as we make a mad dash to work, to drop off the kids, or a full-out sprint through the grocery store.
And. that. is. okay!
Life can be messy. Life can be downright cray-cray. I know mine is!
Let’s stop to think about what life would be like if we lived inside of those pictures we continue to pin:
- We’d have the most fashionable wardrobe.
- We’d have a spotless home.
- Our families would have perfect, smooth, taned and toned bodies.
- Our hair would look like we just stepped out of the salon at every moment of the day.
- And our children would have the coolest playground in our well manicured backyard.
Sounds glorious, right? Ha! But what about those real life moments:
- What about those moments when the milk spills all over the table?
- What about our favorite sweater that we’ve owned since college that cannot be found on a single shelf but your own?
- What about the stretch marks from child bearing and the scars from the time you decided to go for an adventure?
- What about the lingering scent of your favorite shampoo on your wet head as you rush to clean up the house before company arrives?
- What about the fort made out of blankets and the smudgy fingerprints left on doors, evidence that fun was had in the simplest of ways?
Now that’s a life worth living; a world without Pinterest perfect expectations!
Do you struggle with feelings of inadequacy when browsing Pinterest or other social media sites?
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