Pinterest Has Become My Frenemy

Pinterest... I had stars in my eyes when I signed up. How exciting!

So many awesome quotes!

So much fashion and beauty choices! (I can tie my hair into a bow)

So many awesome craft ideas I will never actually do... (but will love and pin and tell myself "someday")

So many home decor ideas!

So many old-timey pictures of Marilyn Monroe and curvy women who will remind me it's ok I don't look like a supermodel!

So many yummy recipes and DIY food ideas!

So many wedding, bridal gown, bridal makeup, bridal hair, bridesmaid dresses, florist, reception, wedding shower, bachelorette, church ideas that are gorgeous and no woman will ever be able to do all and live up to... what.the.fuck.

I had wandered into the dark side of Pinterest. It was not sexy nor cool like I had imagined.

As I am newly engaged--and 10 seconds after we got engaged people started asking, "So, have you set a date, yet?" I turned to pinterest. I started pinning things I thought were beautiful, like floral center pieces, seascape wedding venues and cute bridemaid gift ideas.

That's how it started. Soon my attention was diverted to meme's that say snarky things and pictures of cats.

Word.

I love Tardar Sauce (Grumpy Cat)

After an hour I realized I had barely anything in my "Wedding" board and a plethora in my "Suck it, girls who take pictures in bathroom mirrors" quote board. I failed.

So, to get some inspiration, I looked at a few of my also engaged or newly married friends' boards. They were full. Full of many floral arrangements, many dresses, many venues, many many many.

That's when I realized -- are we just fucking ourselves up by means of overload? WE ARE PINNING OURSELVES TO DEATH. You cannot have twenty different kinds of cake at a wedding. Yet you will pin all of these options to your board, and then go to a bakery near your wedding destination that will inevitably not be able to reproduce an elaborate $3,000 cake you saw on the internet. Now, you feel inadequate because your potential wedding looks nothing like the virtual one Pinterest let you believe you could have. Now, you feel like you failed. I don't think that's right.

PINTEREST'S CIVIC DUTY:
There should be a service on Pinterest that if you are a newly engaged woman or soon-to-be mother a pop-up window shows up and says "Slow down, cowboy. It's fun to look at all these options, but you won't be able to use all of them. Or even half of them. And that is ok. Your special time has nothing to do with how many white roses or silver candelabras you are able to cram into a banquet hall. And not every moment of your journey as a new mother will be filled with a smiling or sleeping baby. Don't let these beautiful visual images cloud your judgment or make you think you need these things. It's just well-placed marketing and great photography. Don't feel like you have to do all of this. Now breathe.

But, Pinterest is not going to do this. Because Pinterest is a business, just like any other, and while I haven't done much research regarding their business model, I know they are making a profit somehow. Pinterest is here to stay, chugging out images for women to pin. Pinterest can ruin a smart women's potential.

That's it, if anyone is going to ruin my potential, it's going to be me.

MY DEAR JOHN LETTER TO PINTEREST: I'm sorry, I can't do this anymore. I just don't think you have my best interest at heart, Pinterest. I think we should take a break. We should see other people. It's not you, it's me. No, really, it's you.

Anyone else have a love-hate relationship with Pinterest? Or have I just wandered too far down the rabbit hole. I should lay down for awhile. It's ok, you can be honest.

Guess where I found this... Curiouser and curiouser.

Dream big,

Jean, the failed Pinterest user

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