Do I think this is an amazing bathroom? YES. Would I ever be able to afford this bathroom in a million years? NO.
And then there's stuff like this. I'm pretty sure this was in an episode of MTV Cribs. I don't even have one chandelier in my house and this closet has at least 11!
I joked about making Pinterest boards with snarky titles, like "Homes You Will Never Own" "Crafts You Will Never Do" "Places You Will Never Visit" but really what it came down to is this:
Is Pinterest a to-do list or a dream list?
Y'all know I'm an engineer so I see Pinterest as a to-do list. I've done a lot of things because of Pinterest.
I bought these cupcake designs (don't buy them, only the Star Wars one is reliable for more than one cupcake):
I bought this sign for a reading nook I am creating on the third floor (in blue, turns out this etsy seller lives in Raleigh!):
I bought this print for my office. I also found my office desk on Pinterest.
I gave the boys glow sticks at bathtime (ended in someone getting a glowstick to the eye). I made a vodka slush drink. I make multiple batches of peach sangria. In fact, I have an entire Pinterest Board dedicated to projects I have completed.
I want to dream, I really do. In fact, I took an online course on dreaming and rave about it all.the.time. But with such busy lives, how much time do we want to spend DREAMING and how much time do we want to spend DOING?
Of course Julie at Joy's Hope has a great post on this (her print):
When Brandy asked me to sit down and write a snarky post about Pinterest (she has a great post up today!), I had grand plans to write about EVERYTHING in a jar, and KEEP CALM posters, and neatly arranged children's bookshelves (FANTASY). Instead I couldn't help but bring it all back to the fundamental question I ask myself each day:
Which direction am I moving today toward my dreams?
Dream big people, but do something about it.
What step are you taking today toward your dreams?
16 comments:
Hmmm. So I guess you didn't like that I actually named one of my boards, "Things I'll Probably Never Do." And I actually mean it. LOL. I admire you Doers, I really do. But I think it's okay to be content as a dreamer sometimes, too. I'm happy to look at all the cool stuff, and I'm not beating myself up because I'm not doing any of it. Leave us underachievers alone! ;-)
I love this. I find that I spend a lot of time dreaming and never getting around to finishing (I have tons of fabric waiting to be made into skirts, bags, curtains, etc.) and then I sometimes feel bad about not doing. This was a good reminder for me to get moving, which I need.
Then I read Beth's comment, and it occurred to me that it's a delicate balance, dreaming v. doing. We all need to have both in our lives, and we all do one more than the other probably. Some posts remind us to dream, others to do, and I for one could use them both! Thank you being one of them!
Closet = Mariah Carey's, before being Mommy to adorable twins.
I'm not a "pinner" or a "Tweeter" or any of those new-fangled things you young folks do (smile), but I do love thinking hard about all the things I'd love to do, see, have and experience in my life. Many of them I may never get to, and that's OK. But having something to reach for, dream of, aspire to keeps me moving forward in life.
At the same time, one of the biggest things I aspire to have is a more grateful and content spirit -- which is really, really hard, when we are constantly bombarded with things like Mariah Carey's small-apartment-for-a-closet, and Extreme Home Makeover, etc. etc. But in my daily prayers and thoughts, I am working on that every day. Striking a balance between "dreaming big" and "being content with and grateful for what I already have" is a daily task, fraught with frequent failure. I imagine it may take a lifetime to master. But I think I'm up for the challenge! Thanks for posting that picture about the best things in life not being things. That kind of thinking is exactly the reminder I need!
Ok, for me pinterest is great because I tend to be fairly crafty, very cookish, extremely moved by inspirational quotes ( and try to act on the action ones), and I'm always searching for things that I can do better. Is pinterest a major time suck? Sure, buy when I'm waiting for the bus after school or waiting in a waiting room, it's a gift. I have done a bunch of the projects I've seen there, and have made lots of the food. I think it's like blogging-really how productive is blogging? It can let you make new friends, find new ideas,and preserve memories. Then you can use pinterest to feed/make stuff to send to your bloggy friends. I think it is awesome especially if it allows you to do some of the stuff you never would have thought to do.
Oh, that reminds me, I finally got my invitation to pinterest and should actually do something about it.
Dreams...I have those. They can be scary.
This cracks me up. I also have to laugh at all the things you can make homemade that I can find at Target for 1/2 the price and it takes me 5 minutes to drive there. :) I do however enjoy a good craft every once in a while but it does get a bit crazy.
I definitely think the house thing can appear to be a lack of contentment. I try to pin things that I may actually do.
I need to be careful about throwing stones/glass house kind of thing though because I don't have contentment nailed down by any means but I do manage to live most of my life content.
I have also found GREAT recipes and home decor ideas that I have made or plan to make and some of them are AMAZING and have become my favorite recipes.
I guess it's like anything else sometimes I am inspired by it all and sometimes I am really annoyed.
couldn't have said it better if I tried.
Laura, you are awesome. Love this post. I agree with all of it. I LOL about Everything in a jar. Hysterical. (And, I do love me some mason jars).
p.s. got your comment...I will be praying!!
I make goals for the year like I did here:
http://piratesandbutterflies.blogspot.com/2011/01/new-year.html
Then check in to make sure I'm working towards them.
Thanks to Move It 2011 I am doing pretty well.
Ummm, I'm going to think about re-writing the ending of my book, for the fifth day in a row now thanks :/
Also, I'm staying away from Printerest, I'm just not crafty or interested in decorating.
Random thoughts on this post (and pinterest in general) -
1. Maybe the pinner couldn't have that exact bathroom, but I could use that picture for inspiration to turn my tiny bathroom into a smaller version of that bathroom. In fact, there is an adorable chandelier at IKEA for 30 bucks. I know this, because I'm always trying to get Eric to agree to installing that chandelier somewhere in our house, but he won't do it (jerk!)
2. Although, I actually don't love that bathroom or the closet.
3. I use pinterest both to pin things we will actually do or just because I think it's pretty (or clever). i.e. on my "Fall Holiday Board" are 7 pins - one I will never do, because our house isn't tall enough, but I love it. three I have already done. two I will do in November for Thanksgiving. one I might or might not do, but I love it.
4. I hate the scrabble tile trend in the decorating world right now. HATE IT! probably because it's so overdone and because I always lose at scrabble (Eric's family loves scrabble - argh! boring! They also love seven layer bean dip - delicious!)
5. This comment is ridiculously long and I haven't even answered your question.
6. Wait, what was the question?
I think I've been out of the blogosphere way too long. I've never even heard of Pinterest until today. After reading your post I had to go check it out. Looks like something else to keep me from writing, working, or doing my motherly duties. I'm scared....and intrigued!
I tend not to pin things that aren't actually doable to useful for me, but I do love the concept. I feel like I see ideas all the time and have no way to keep track of them and organized, so I can find them when it is actually appropriate. I'm hoping that's what pinterest is actually helping me do.
And when I need a happy moment during a work day, I can look at Pinterest for a few minutes and feel inspired. That's a good thing!
I'm just not that visual a person so I started using Pinterest last year sometime and then just got tired of it.
But I'm with you. I also think there's a certain vibe on Pinterest where people try to construct pinboards *others* will like, "vote up", "feature", whatever. So it becomes not so much a personal thing, as an "I Want to Get Noticed" kind of thing. Which I find boring and annoying too.
Sort of like the Etsy "Treasury" feature. There was a time when people would just construct the samey-same sorts of collections so the Admins would feature it on the front page. I don't know if people still do it, since I am sorely neglecting my Etsy empire right now.
And YES to DOING. I'll admit my Mondo list is a bit more to-do than dreamy, and I've noticed that since committing it to paper, I've actually taken action on a TON of it. Maybe I'm missing the point, but it works for me :)
And also, I am laughing very hard at @Janna's entire comment :)
Yes and yes. The whole point, to me, of blogging, is to try to keep it real. I was looking for something I couldn't find in parenting magazines. I very much appreciate your comment today and anytime someone says my ideas are unrealistic. As for Pinterest, I think some folks are just dreaming and that is a lovely thing. But I am always in favor of a snarky column to take it all down a notch.
I do like the shopping ideas I see. Since - especially as working mothers - we don't often have the ability (ie time or childcare) to go shopping with friends, I think it's fun to get the recommendations of this etsy vendor or that pair of shoes. Then of course when I realize someone has pinned a pair of $350 boots, I go into a tailspin of "Is that how much boots cost?" "Do real grown ups buy shoes at that level?" "Do women I actually KNOW spend that much on boots?" "Am I a cheap ass?" etc.
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