I made my first Pinterest board when I was 23, which means I have spent a significant amount of my real life ‘pinning’ pictures of things that will enhance ‘future Mary’.
For those who don’t know what Pinterest is, let me explain, it’s a ‘social platform’ which has endless photos that you can save or ‘pin’ onto your own Pinterest board. For example, If you are going to buy a new dining room table and need inspiration you can search for ‘dining room table’, and an infinite amount of beautiful, unaffordable dining room tables will appear. It’s like a Google search made by women.
For many people, this is an odd way to spend time, but I take great comfort in the fact that there are over 400 million active users. Of these, 60% are women, mostly 25-34 years old. So yeah, I’m right there.
It can be addictive in the way that people are addicted to Call of Duty. I can spend a Sunday happily watching Game of Thrones and pinning pictures of hair or desk layouts…
This habit has been with me for most of my adult life, but the other day, I was scrolling through the 2400 pins I’ve accumulated and realised that maybe…just maybe…this whole thing is a little nuts. For instance, I’ve hardly ever matched an outfit I’ve pinned on my ‘how to not be naked’ board, and if I have, it has looked nothing like it did on the Parisian 20-year-old model.
As for home deco… my green statement wall in my bathroom that I painted alone one night, doesn’t quite reflect the pictures that inspired me.
There are also photos that seem to appeal to the masses of my demographic, and on closer inspection I’m not quite sure why…
Like….
Women wearing woolly socks.
For some reason I have pinned a few photos of feet in woolly socks. These aren’t just any feet in any socks though, there is a special formula.
They’re bare thin legs in expensive thick socks, and are always unnaturally posed. I have multiple photos like these in my board called Autumn Dream, along with leafy orange streets, mugs, and women wrapped in blankets.
Women with fire or lights.
I’m going to say it now, that maybe when we’re fully grown adults we shouldn’t be tangling ourselves up in fairy lights….we look like we’re being held hostage.
Mugs next to rainy windows
We complain about the rain all the time, but putting a steamy mug in front of a window with rain droplets seems to make us weak in the knees.
See what I mean…
Mind set quotes.
I honestly don’t know how the Roman Empire was built, how world wars were fought, or how the Sistine Chapel was painted without a motivational quote board to refer to. Sometimes, when I’m feeling anxious about the day, I just pin a quote, and I feel instantly stronger to tackle my life….(or do I?)
Sometimes these quotes can be a little farfetched and also to blame for why millennials are driving around in vans.
Like this one…
“Jobs fill your pockets, adventure fill your soul.”
(They may need to add that jobs also fund adventures).
These are a few others that I have pinned over the years.
“Only dead fish go with the flow.”
“Ask Yourself if what you’re doing today is getting you closer to where you want to be tomorrow.”
“Be a Fruit Loop in a World of Cheerios.”
In hindsight, none of them helped.
Face
The theory behind pinning the face of a world-famous woman is that I can copy the make-up, and voila I’ll look just like them. This theory has yet to materialise.
Hair
If there is ever a board that makes me look psychotic it’s the hair one. How many times can I pin the same damn hair?
And then there’s the food….
Arranging food for a photo has got to be the second worst thing western world people do for fun. The first worst thing are the chumps who are pinning them…
I mean….how long did this take? And it’s not even a bloody meal. Kiwi, pasta and broccoli?? What’s going on??
Now you may think this post is my dramatic exit from the site, but no, I’m not ready to abandon future Mary… got to keep posting mermaid hair, Manhattan lofts and big bath tubs..…Think Big, Aim High (right?)
And besides what is Pinterest really but appreciating the little things in the world – like woolly socks.
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