My Struggle with Pinterest
Alternative title: How Pinterest Robbed Me of My Creativity
Let me just start this off by saying that Pinterest is a great way to share ideas. If you can't find it on Pinterest, it probably doesn't exist. Which kinda leads me to a few of my issues with Pinterest.
For the longest time, I felt like I was in a creative funk. After 4 years of art school, making numerous art projects and coming up with countless drawings and ideas, everything seemed to come to a halt after graduation. Then I discovered Pinterest and its bountiful craft projects complete with instructions. I pinned and pinned away, made a few of the things I found, and thought "Hey! Maybe this is the answer to my problems!"
But it wasn't.
Because here was the issue: while I was making things, I wasn't making my things. I have always been a creative and artist person, and now I wasn't. I was letting someone else be the creative one and just stealing their ideas. The artistic part of my brain that worked hard for several years wasn't getting any work, and it started to become upsetting.
That's not the only issue.
You know how some col-de-sacs have houses that look exactly the same? From house, to house, to house, it's the same front porch, windows, architecture, everything. That's how I picture Pinterest projects. From house, to house, to house, it's the same DIY craft projects. Right now, I envision hundreds of houses filled with repurposed pallets, old windows, and shutters covered with burlap and chevron. And I'm not saying that those things are necessarily bad things, they're just really trendy right now.
And I'm not really one for trends.
I like for the artwork on my walls to be original. Maybe "original" isn't the correct word, I just don't want to be too trendy with my artwork. Maybe that's a bit hipster-ish of me, but I just don't want to come home and see "Pinterest" written all over my walls.
So here's how I've tried to alleviate my problem while still being able to enjoy everything else Pinterest has to offer (i.e.: fashion advice, recipes, gifs from Doctor Who, etc.):
1. I've stopped scrolling through the "DIY and Crafts" section. This way I'm not overwhelmed with other people's projects and ideas. I've got room in my noggin to come up with my own projects and ideas.
2. I don't say "No" completely. If I happen to stumble upon a truly great project, I pin it. But maybe instead of doing the project exactly like the instructions say, I change it up a bit to make it my own. I use what I find as inspiration to make something that's a little more me, and a little less Pinterest.
There are still some other problems I have connected with the world of Pinterest, but this post is wordy enough already. Does anyone else struggle with Pinterest? Any good ways to get out of a creative funk? Help a sister out and tell me I'm not alone.
Let me just start this off by saying that Pinterest is a great way to share ideas. If you can't find it on Pinterest, it probably doesn't exist. Which kinda leads me to a few of my issues with Pinterest.
For the longest time, I felt like I was in a creative funk. After 4 years of art school, making numerous art projects and coming up with countless drawings and ideas, everything seemed to come to a halt after graduation. Then I discovered Pinterest and its bountiful craft projects complete with instructions. I pinned and pinned away, made a few of the things I found, and thought "Hey! Maybe this is the answer to my problems!"
But it wasn't.
Because here was the issue: while I was making things, I wasn't making my things. I have always been a creative and artist person, and now I wasn't. I was letting someone else be the creative one and just stealing their ideas. The artistic part of my brain that worked hard for several years wasn't getting any work, and it started to become upsetting.
That's not the only issue.
You know how some col-de-sacs have houses that look exactly the same? From house, to house, to house, it's the same front porch, windows, architecture, everything. That's how I picture Pinterest projects. From house, to house, to house, it's the same DIY craft projects. Right now, I envision hundreds of houses filled with repurposed pallets, old windows, and shutters covered with burlap and chevron. And I'm not saying that those things are necessarily bad things, they're just really trendy right now.
And I'm not really one for trends.
I like for the artwork on my walls to be original. Maybe "original" isn't the correct word, I just don't want to be too trendy with my artwork. Maybe that's a bit hipster-ish of me, but I just don't want to come home and see "Pinterest" written all over my walls.
So here's how I've tried to alleviate my problem while still being able to enjoy everything else Pinterest has to offer (i.e.: fashion advice, recipes, gifs from Doctor Who, etc.):
1. I've stopped scrolling through the "DIY and Crafts" section. This way I'm not overwhelmed with other people's projects and ideas. I've got room in my noggin to come up with my own projects and ideas.
2. I don't say "No" completely. If I happen to stumble upon a truly great project, I pin it. But maybe instead of doing the project exactly like the instructions say, I change it up a bit to make it my own. I use what I find as inspiration to make something that's a little more me, and a little less Pinterest.
There are still some other problems I have connected with the world of Pinterest, but this post is wordy enough already. Does anyone else struggle with Pinterest? Any good ways to get out of a creative funk? Help a sister out and tell me I'm not alone.
Comments
Post a Comment