I can’t stress the amount of time I have spent scrolling through Pinterest. Opening the platform on one browser and whatever show I’m watching on another has unconsciously been a ritual for me— my go to way to decompress after a long day of classes. I have thousands of pins saved to my various boards.Room Decor. Food. Dream Wedding (yes I’m 19 and single). But the board that undoubtedly has the most pins is my “Dream Life” board. And while the pictures of vacations in the South of France and coffee shop dates are certainly something I crave, I have started to wonder whether indulging in Pinterest and creating an image of my “Dream Life” is actually hindering my ability to live in and find inspiration in the present.
It is no secret that social media has a major influence on our lives. The rise of influencers of Instagram and TikTok has created a culture of idealization, as I find myself constantly comparing my life to the lives of the influencers I follow. While they are away on brand trips in Hawaii, I’m drowning in essays and exams in the freezing cold. Although I’m aware this life doesn’t come with the snap of my fingers, there is some comfort in watching and engaging in the lives of others. Especially when those lives are complete with something as small as that one new pair of trendy boots or something as big as your dream home.
This is what Pinterest has been for me:
aspiration. It is natural to wish for things and hope your life will be worthy or aesthetic enough to be posted on Pinterest, but I think that my constant rumination on what my ideal life will look like, always changing in light of new trends, makes contentment with my current situation unattainable. If I am always looking for inspiration on online platforms and not within myself and those I surround myself with, I imagine the ideal will become even more unreasonable. Though a scroll on Pinterest may help you to find fall outfit inspiration, becoming a “Pinterest girl” should not be the goal, especially because the moment you achieve the look or life that dominates your screen, it is likely that some other trend will dominate social media. I’m still working on it, but it is essential to find inspiration in my daily life.