(not to be confused with my WordPress  Problem- not knowing how to insert a pic into a post yet!-this is not my original photo- looking for the  source to credit properly)

As I have piddled around on the internet conducted extensive on-line career research, I fell into Pinterest. Oh boy, a virtual bulletin board- I love it!  It’s environmentally friendly- no more magazines or catalogues! It’s a window to the world, offering glimpses into design ideas from countries whose languages I do not speak. It’s also home to the Ryan Gosling meme, an example of which appears around here somewhere. Don’t ask me why, but I find that hilarious.

I love Pinterest because it is full of attractive images and useful ideas, as well as the previously mentioned R.G. meme. I am fascinated by this cult of aspiration I seem to belong to.  Pinterest shows us a better way. You can follow or be followed on the site, which strikes me as both flattering and mildly creepy. Although I haven’t been “pinning” (that’s what we call it) for long, I have a few followers, some of whom are even strangers. Apparently, I have better taste in laundry rooms than in other area, since more people “follow” that board than any of the others. I follow a few folks myself- (Rosemary B., I will never have to look for another garden image anywhere- your taste is impeccable!)

I love Pinterest because of the self-aware humor demonstrated by its members, as in “Pinterest: a place for women to plan weddings to men they don’t know, decorate houses they don’t live in, and dress children they haven’t had yet.”

I fear Pinterest because it offers me the illusion that I have accomplished something by spending hours at a time looking at pretty pictures. I justify this by telling myself that I am slowly and deliberately  finding inspiration,which in time, will translate to action. On a small scale, this has turned out to be true. Fortunately, there seems to be some limit to my inertia- I can only look at other people’s projects for so long without being compelled to hang some shelves (ok, ok, get TMIM to hang some shelves), spray paint some office supplies and paint a vintage file cabinet. On a larger scale, I intend to create something of my own which is worthy of “repinning.” In that way, I will know that my time on Pinterest will not have been wasted.