The Wisdom of Pinterest

Pinterest is one of those social media things, much like Facebook and Twitter, that I avoided for a very long time and when I finally succumbed, I became instantly addicted. But Pinterest has a lot of extremely practical applications. I’ve found all kinds of projects and worksheets and experiments to do with my home-school kindergartener. I’ve made dozens of recipes (most of them successful!) that I’ve found on Pinterest. I’ve even done a couple of arts and crafts type projects (a few of them successful). But what I really love finding on Pinterest are memes and quotes.

I freely admit that one of my favorite time-wasters is checking out the “Humor” category on Pinterest. It fascinates me for many reasons, not the least of which is that for some inexplicable reason it includes dozens of study hints and mnemonics for nursing students (most of which are not, in fact, humorous). But it also includes some hilarious tumblr exchanges, plenty of geek and TV in-jokes, and more than a bit of sly wisdom. And a great deal of it seems to pertain directly to my life, so much so that I actually created a Pinterest board called “This Is My Life.” Here are a few of the bits of wisdom (and whimsy) from that board.

I saw this one when I’d just started a diet. I’d always been rather fond of quoting the old saw, “Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels,” and then commenting, “Sure it does: bacon tastes as good as being thin feels…chocolate tastes as good as being thin feels…so does champagne…and butter…and French fries…” So eating a salad definitely makes me think that I’d rather be fat.

 In the same vein, this particular meme reminds me that I’m not the only one who eschews actual exercise for no reason other than that I simply don’t care.

What I do care about, however, is being a good parent. And I love this one, because it reminds me that there is a very fine line between being an overly protective helicopter mom and being an irresponsible beyond free-range parent. And sometimes being a good parent means vacillating between the two extremes.

This one reminds me that no matter how awesome a parent I am, my children will occasionally destroy things. Because that’s what children do. The only children who don’t occasionally destroy things are children who are utterly lacking in curiosity. And that is terribly sad. I’d rather have broken stuff than broken children.

 Very closely related to the “nice things” meme, above, this particular meme serves to remind me that I am not alone in my occasional lack of basic hygiene and grooming. I’m glad that Pinterest has shown me that I’m not the only mom of small children who occasionally realizes in the middle of the grocery store, or preschool pickup, or a rehearsal, that I didn’t brush either my hair or my teeth that day.

Not only does Pinterest offer me wisdom for being a parent, it offers me wisdom for being a wife. Sometimes it reminds me that familiarity doesn’t need to bring contempt, but that it can bring contentment instead.

Sometimes it reminds me of just how good I have it as a wife. Sadly, I need that reminder every now and then.

But my very favorite memes are the ones that just really speak to who I am and how I think. This one truly captures my love of both coffee and wine – and why each of those loves has grown and thrived.

This one is great because it applies to my whole family. We avoid wearing pants whenever possible. Who needs pants, anyway?

Pinterest reminds me that I’m not the only one who does weird, dumb things like looking at my phone to see what time it is but not actually remembering to check what time it is. Yes, I do that. On a regular basis. Shut up, you do it, too.

These are all memes that speak to who I am and what my life is like. But I also love finding quotes there that tell me who I could be and what I should aspire to.

Ina Garten reminded me that a cookie can be a momentary escape from misery.

Dr. Seuss reminded me that every moment is invaluable and should be remembered and savored.

The Dowager Countess (aka Maggie Smith) reminded me that being clever is always better than being crass.

Ernest Hemingway reminded me that it doesn’t take a lot of words to move someone’s heart. 

Pinterest reminded me that snooty, educated words are not always the best words for describing something.

Perhaps the most beautiful – and the wisest- reminder of all, however, is Charles Haddon Spurgeon’s reminder that your character, and the lives you touch during your own life, is the legacy that you will leave forever. So although I hope that at least some of my written words, perhaps even some that I’ve written in this blog over the years, will last beyond my own lifetime, I hope even more that my legacy of love and character and hope will be passed down through those whose lives I’ve touched, be they my children, or my friends, or even some random stranger who saw my actions in passing. That is the legacy I would be most proud to have passed on.