I took these photos of myself today in my living room. I wanted everything to be super white and washed out, except for my eyes and hair. This may be the most vibrant eye makeup I have ever worn, and I think I like it:) I might have to go on over to Target later and see what kind of weird looks I get….
Speaking of weird looks – wanna hear something kind of shocking? I quit Pinterest. On March 4th I deleted my account, and all of my pins and repins. I can just imagine your gasps and dropped jaws on this one. Pinterest is one of the hottest sites for women (and some men) right now, and has completely taken over the lives of some of it’s users, so why would I want to quit? I thought about that question a LOT before I deleted my account, and I will share some of the reasons with you in this post.
Let me start this by saying: I don’t dislike Pinterest. I think it’s a super cool idea, and I got a lot of use and enjoyment out of it last year. I’m definitely not writing this post to tell anyone that they should quit Pinterest. I made this decision for myself and only myself. When I first joined, I used it constantly – everyday, multiple times a day. I was mostly looking for ideas for my sister’s bridal shower and wedding, and it came in very handy! But once the wedding was over, my use of it became more and more sporadic.
One of the things that started bothering me was that I was constantly seeing the same pins over and over again. I was looking for new ideas and fresh inspiration, but wasn’t finding it in 90% of the pins I viewed. Another thing I didn’t care for, was how easy it was to repin something and be completely oblivious to where it came from. I can’t tell you how many times I repinned without clicking into the photo to see what blog, designer, website, ect… it originally came from, and I don’t think that I am the only one. I often hear users giving all the credit for their finds to Pinterest. “Where did you get that idea?” “PINTEREST!!” <—these kind of statements make me sad because as a creative person, I believe in giving full credit to the person who originally created and executed the idea; not the means of which it was found (and copied) by us.
The most important reason that I gave up on Pinterest was this: I want to challenge my creative process to be more organic, original, and unique. If I only get my ideas and inspirations from one place, all of my projects, crafts, ideas, art, and design will quickly become nothing more than mediocre copies of other people’s creativity. I want to look more to the things that I already know, and begin to create from that place before looking to others.
I read this great blog post from Free Range Mom about “idea hoarding”, and how it can actually have an undesired affect on a person’s creative process and productivity. I love this quote in the post: “Creating something is hard work, fraught with angst and self-doubt. It requires enormous energy, will and (dare I say) magic, to come up with a new creation – be it an idea, painting or cookie recipe.”
I want to experience more self-doubt in my creations. I can only have self-doubt when something is coming from me, and that is both frightening and exhilarating.
Feel free to share what you think in the comments – I won’t be offended if you don’t agree with me (or I won’t tell you at least…HA!), and I would love to know why you use or don’t use Pinterest.
Elise
Mar 18, 2012 -
I totally get your quitting Pinterest! I feel the same in so many of the ways you expressed. My enjoyment with it was highest when I was, like you, searching for ideas for weddings! And I also feel so sad for the people that aren’t getting any credit. I’ve found some awesome blogs through Pinterest that I now visit regularly, but I’m sure thats not the same for so many people! You go girl… I’m all for individual creativity! That’s a lot harder with Pinterest out there. Haha AND you look BEAUTIFUL in those photos :) LOVE LOVE LOVE them!
Stephanie May
Mar 18, 2012 -
Awwww Elise, you are so sweet! So glad to know that I am not alone in these thoughts:) That is a good point you made about finding new blogs through Pinterest – I hope more people are doing that! <3
elsie
Mar 18, 2012 -
Your hair looks amazing and I love your eye makeup too!
dena
Mar 18, 2012 -
i found your link from “a beautiful mess” and am lovin’ the flowers in your hair. please elaborate … felt, real, homemade, bought ?
as for the pinterest rant – i totally agree, i never jumped on the band wagon but at times wish i had, as its becoming more popular and “mainstream” i’m proud to say i was never part of it.
and so true about idea hoarding, it seems like sometimes, the more creative things i see the more distant i feel from my creativity. weird how that stuff works.
.dena.
http://www.panchoandleftey.wordpress.com
Melissa
Mar 19, 2012 -
Hey Stephanie,
I enjoyed your blog (and your pics….I have never been able to master good eye shadow!). I agree with much of what you said about Pinterest. I have been frustrated many times when I could not find the source of a pin to get more detailed info. I have never been “pinterest crazy” like some. At most, I am on it a few hours a month. The two things I love about it: inspiration and organization. Seeing all of the interesting projects has actually inspired me to finish many of the projects I have started – even though they are completely unrelated to what I see on Pinterest. It just gets me excited about finishing things that have faded in my mind. Secondly, I am a nerd for organization, so this meets my need in two ways. One, I can organize my thoughts and interesting ideas I find – I spend more time pinning from my own searches on the internet than sifting through pinterest and repinning – and two, I love finding crafty ideas from others to organize my way-too-cluttered life…….on a different note, I have always thought you and your family were FAR TOO creative on your own to need pinterest! :)
Tara
Mar 20, 2012 -
Great job on your pics!
I completely agree with you about Pinterest, in fact I never even joined. Not for those reasons exactly but b/c I knew I would be on there too often…it’s addicting! You are SO right though & I think it shows a great deal of self-discipline & creative passion to quit like you did.
Good luck with your creative endeavors…..I look forward to seeing them unfold on your blog.
Stormie Dae
Mar 22, 2012 -
Love the pics – seriously gorgeous. I agree with your thoughts on Pinterest – as we’ve discussed:-) I haven’t been on it in ages but still like to go browse sometimes, specifically for fashion ideas and brilliant photography. I make sure when I pin things that I find the original source of the image and pin from there – I think if more people did that, it wouldn’t be as big of a deal with the copyright issues.
I also agree with Elise about finding new blogs to read through Pinterest, that has probably been my favorite part.