Why Sometimes I Really Hate Pinterest

this is real life, ya'll. i can't make this stuff up.

Tell me I'm not the only one that has a love/hate relationship with Pinterest.

I love the inspiration. Plain and simple. I search for recipes. Look up crafts. There are pretty pictures and quotes. And sometimes people pin baby animals. Who wouldn't love baby animals.

But then there's the dark side of Pinterest. The side that everyone feels but no one really talks about.

The part where Pinterest makes you feel like absolute shit. Oops, but it had to be said. Sometimes [a lot of the time] Pinterest makes me feel really, really lousy.

Pinterest makes me feel worthless.

I don't think I'll ever be able to live up to the standards set forth on Pinterest. The decorating and organizing and crafting. Homemade everything. There just aren't enough hours in the day for all the things that make it onto my Pinterest feed.

My house doesn't look like their houses.
My kid doesn't dress like their kids.
My life isn't as cute as their life.

Oh the web of lies we weave when comparing our lives to those lived out online.

Pinterest makes me feel like I'm not doing enough.

I once saw a pin about how to decorate your bathroom for Christmas. I about died.
Bathroom? I didn't even put up a tree this year.

Another pin was showing me how to fold a bath towel.
Really, I'm not even doing that right?

I find the more time I devote to peeking into others lives on Pinterest, the more of a failure I feel.

Pinterest makes me feel like I own too much stuff, but also that I don't own enough.

One minute I'm reading a post about how to organize your whole house in a day (do they have a magic wand??) and I'm thinking "oh my gosh, I own way to much stuff. I need a printable about this!"

The next minute I'm looking at pictures talking about organizing your closet and I think "look at all the handbags and sunglasses perfectly lined up. I need to get me some of those so I can organize them!"

What is wrong with me? This back and forth internal dialogue about how much stuff I have and don't have is wearing me out.

So what is a girl to do?

Stop the Pinterest madness, I want to get off!

I won't be breaking up with Pinterest anytime soon because, well, I still love it as a resource. But I do think we need to define our relationship a bit. Unfollow folks, clean up my boards, read with a grain of salt.

And get over it.

Some of my insecurities need to be thought about and prayed over. Others just need to be released.

My life may not always be "pin" worthy but I can say, with confidence that:
- my meals are made with love
- my house is decorated with love
- my family is intentionally focused on love
- my life, in all it's messy beauty, is wrapped in love

I'd love to know: does Pinterest intimidate you? What do you do when insecurities get the best of you?