Written by Crystal Schwalger
As I was doing some spring cleaning last week (aka, company’s coming), I was looking around my home thinking that I need to make some changes. It’s time to dust off those bookshelves, slap a new coat of paint on anything and everything, and get into the DIY (do it yourself) spirit. I’m pretty sure that spring does this to a lot of moms who are ready to not only declutter the endless amount of toys and stuff that has accumulated over the past couple of months but also just ready for a change.
However, where do you turn when you are not sure what to do to make this happen? Or even where to start? Well, if you are like me, you go to what has become my favorite web page and app. Pinterest of course.
If you are a busy mom like me, Pinterest is not only your friend but also the webpage you turn to for everything. If you have never heard of Pinterest, you must have been hiding in a closet for the past couple of years because Pinterest is HUGE.
Need a quick dinner/salad/rolls/side dish/dessert/snack idea? Go to Pinterest.
Don’t know how to really clean your garbage can/toilet/refrigerator/living room/kid’s room/stinky shoes? Go to Pinterest!
Need ideas on how to grow/fertilize/sell/slice/freeze/can or just eat tomatoes? You guessed it, Pinterest.
You can pretty much find anything you are remotely interested in, including quotes, haircuts, fashion, wedding ideas, places to visit, photography, getting organized, tools, cars, famous people, and more. There is even a “board” (like an electronic bulletin board) pinned with events from history. This happens to be one of my favorites. The list goes on and on.
To risk sounding like a poorly worded advertisement, this site was a stroke of genius, and I wish I would have thought of it first. It really is an invaluable tool for anyone and everyone.
Especially busy moms who need help.
When my kids were little, I would buy endless amounts of family, women’s and parenting magazines looking for recipes, craft ideas, and fun things to make and do with my kids. Since I lived in an apartment at the time, keeping all those magazines was not only impractical, it was outright impossible. And who wants to keep them all anyway? There was just no space.
So I ingeniously came up with a solution to my need. I would rip out the pages I liked from the magazines and put them in a 3-ring binder. This kind-of worked. But not really. For one thing, I didn’t really organize them, so it was hard to find things I wanted to make anyway, and for another, they looked really untidy stuffed into an ugly binder. To make matters worse, the book got to be really huge and took up a lot of space. I did make a few Christmas ornaments and recipes from it, but it really was just unrealistic and didn’t turn out as genius as I thought it first was.
Fast forward 20 years or so, and the world for a wife and mom is completely different thanks to Pinterest. No longer do I have to endlessly search the pages and pages of crafts and recipes to find what I need (unless I want to, that is, and sometimes I do).
The Atlantic magazine called Pinterest a “database of intentions.” What a great way to describe it. I have to agree with them since in my own life, I have to admit it really has become a database of well-meaning intentions. I truly do mean to make and do everything I have pinned.
Co-founder of Pinterest Evan Sharp says he thinks of Pinterest “as a kind of utility, where people save and organize things for later.”
Unfortunately for me, I do a lot of saving for later, and not so much utilizing. In fact, I have so many pins, it’s a little overwhelming. I sometimes even forget what I have pinned.
Almost like an addict, I eagerly browse the various boards and pin newly-found images on my own boards and then start all over again. It’s almost like being able to shop without having to use money. If that feeling is not addicting, I don’t know what is.
Unfortunately, with the excitement of finding a pin I like, there also comes this nagging little voice in the back of my head which repeats the same narration after I pin it. It says, “When am I going to do this garden pin or make that recipe pin? When am I going to make that craft pin or go to that travel pin?”
Just the other day, I was wishing I could make everything that I had pinned on my boards and how awesome my life and house would look if I could actually do all those things. It was a little depressing to realize that there is no way I could ever actually do everything on each of my boards.
I am pretty choosy about what I pin, only choosing those things that I really love. That’s when it hit me. Why is it that I only choose to pin the things I love? I realized that these boards are more than just a collection of random images, but in reality, they are an extension of my personality, those things that make me… well, me. When I pin a place I want to visit, that pin is visually showing a part of me, of what I choose to show about myself.
I’ve finally come to realize that it doesn’t matter if I am able to make the things I have pinned on my boards. Although it would be great to have all those things, the real reason that I love Pinterest is because when I pin quotes or books, or pictures of trees and garden ideas, or anything else I pin, I am allowing myself to dream, to let my imagination soar, and to envision something different.
I think that is the real reason that people love Pinterest so much and why it matters. Pinterest allows us to plan for the future, remember the past, and reinvent the present. What more could a busy mom ask for?
Crystal Schwalger has loved writing ever since she could remember. Her love of learning led her to Dixie State University where she graduated with a degree in English and Communications. She is passionate about writing and believes that you should never give up on your dreams. She is happiest when she is at home enjoying her backyard green spaces with her family. She currently lives in Washington Utah with her husband, her children, and her dog Kali.
