When I’m at a bit of a loose end I quite like flicking
through a magazine. I haven’t got time
to get involved in a good book, I just want to be a bit distracted by looking
at some pretty clothes, something funny, a nice kitchen, or a new recipe. I don’t take it too seriously and it is just
something to fill a moment of quiet between one thing and the next. Trouble is, I don’t often buy magazines so I
don’t usually have any to hand. That’s
why I like Pinterest; it’s an easily accessible, ever updating magazine.
I’ve started to notice a few problems with it though. Firstly, it works like pornography. Those who talk about the effects of
pornography say that although it isn’t technically infidelity, by thinking
about someone other than your significant other you think about having someone
else, you compare what you have with what you could have, you see other people
having better things than what you have and you start to feel dissatisfied with
what you have and then you feel unhappy.
Pinterest does the same thing; you go from “That’s a pretty bedroom” to “It’s
prettier than my bedroom” to “Why does she get to have that pretty bedroom?” to
“I hate my bedroom”. Now, I love my
home; we’ve lived there for nearly twenty years; it’s the home my husband and I
have made for and with our two children and it contains more than just the
stuff we own. Of course I would change
things if I could, but it works well enough and actually I can't be bothered with constant home improvement. But I’m
noticing a little worm gnawing at my contentment with it. Pinterest!
I’m watching you! I do not need a
villa on a Spanish Island, or a free standing bath with spa jets.
The second thing I’ve noticed is the cute sentiments that
get propagated around it in no time!
Things like this:
Really people? Is that
true or is it just a way to make someone feel better about not having the
courage to sort out something in an honourable way that doesn’t destroy other
people in the process?
Or this one:
Are you sure??? What sort of sick, masochistic God do you follow??? Please explain the theology of this?
And don't get me started on what people do with scripture!!! Look at this:
Totally ignoring what the verse is actually about, justifying bad behaviour and worshiping the God of pulling yourself up by your own efforts!
Maybe we should actually analyse what the outworkings of
these sentiments are before we scatter them around…the more they spread around
the more people tend to view them as truth.
As I finally reach the stage of Grumpy Old Woman-ness I’m getting a bit
outspoken about it. If you follow me on
Pinterest I’ve started a board called Things to Question. Even if nobody else reads it, it makes me feel
like I’m asking myself some important questions about what I’m seeing.
And finally, a big bee in my bonnet: so many images of women
looking either like skeletons or like freaky body builders, with lots of
exhortations to perform 3000 jumping jacks so I can look the same. Occasionally images appear of curvier women,
but sadly they are usually connected to dodgy sites! Why are we doing this to ourselves? Isn’t it enough that men do it to us, and
increasing to themselves as well! Let's have more of this:
I’m not even going to start on American understandings of
cooking* but suffice it to say that I’m looking at Pinterest in a more
thoughtful way these days.
*No! Opening 3 jars
and adding them to a can of ready made “Biscuit Dough” does not constitute
cooking from scratch. And NO! reducing the number of ingredients by using
packets and jars does not make it a good recipe!
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