Pinterest Fail!
My life might be a Pinterest fail,
but really that's okay.
Though sheer perfection won't prevail
I'm happy anyway.
The latest trends you will not see
worked into my decor -
still, home's a pleasant place to be
although I fads ignore.
No tablescapes do I create
before we sit to eat;
no cookies do I decorate,
but they still taste as sweet.
No gourmet meals do I serve up -
(I ought to be ashamed) -
but still we nightly sit to sup
until our hunger's tamed.
I know I'm not a fashion plate -
I haunt the bargain aisle
and purchase clothing out of date
without regard for style.
I've never had a pedicure,
I clip but never buff.
No rasps or files do heels endure -
I just don't care enough.
My closets are not works of art -
not perfectly arranged;
a little mess won't break my heart,
I'm not quite that deranged!
Oh Pinterest - you won't change my life
for reason doth prevail -
and I shall live with far less strife
as epic Pinterest fail!
Sharon Flood Kasenberg, March 25th, 2016
Once, as a young mother, I saw a picture of a bunny cake in a women's magazine. My youngest son was in JK, and heady from the knowledge that I had time on my hands, I decided to try to recreate this culinary vision as an Easter treat for my sons. But my frosting was too thin and the body of the cake wouldn't stay neatly together - and as my husband rather bluntly put it, my efforts resembled "bunny roadkill". We laughed pretty hard about what a mess that cake looked like. The decorating failure didn't bother me at all. It would be a fun story to tell, and the cake still tasted great. The boys (of course) didn't care one iota whether it looked nice.
I first experienced Pinterest when I was planning a wedding reception for my son and daughter in law. It was helpful in that it aided me in understanding my DIL's "vision" for said event. She was able to show me what colours and design elements she hoped to incorporate into reception decor. Once the reception was a thing of the past I seldom bothered with Pinterest. Sure - I logged in for a few minutes here and there so that I'd get ideas for a specific project I was contemplating, but on those occasions I came away with information overload and a firm conviction that there were way too many people in the world with excess time on their hands!
Pinterest, I'm convinced, is the modern day woman's equivalent of "Fantasy Land". It is a cyberspace full of pixie dust and ethereal dreams. The wise explorer of this wondrous realm is apt to snort with derision after a relatively short time and say something profound like, "As if!!!" The more naive explorer, however, can get stuck there for hours in a semi-comatose state of profound awe at the vast array of perfection on display.
Decor? It's all there - colour trends, wall art, furnishings to buy, to make, to rig up like Macgyver from Ikea boxes. Food? They have recipes for every level of culinary artist, from what to do with prepackaged cookie dough to how to bake a six foot wedding cake that's a feat of engineering. You can learn how to cook cuisine from any corner of the globe without sugar, gluten, animal byproducts or fat. If you're more of a food voyeur you can salivate for hours while you look at glossy photos of gastronomical delights. You can find sewing projects, knitting projects, crocheting and macrame projects to keep you tied up in fabric and string for centuries to come. (I once decided to investigate "unfitted kitchens" - sigh - and my family almost didn't eat that day.)
I'm glad that I had a few "bunny roadkill" experiences in my youth, because they helped me learn early on that appearances don't mean much on the baking front either. I have sampled way too many mediocre (at best) tasting cookies and cakes that were beautifully decorated over the years - and I'm convinced that plain looking and delicious trumps those time consuming efforts every time.
That's not to say I don't pretty things up occasionally. Every Christmas I decorate sugar cookies with my own design of a squiggly green wreath with a pink bow, and they look nice on the platter with the simpler fare. Likewise, I indulge my older son's love of candy cane shaped, pink striped mint flavored cookies that are fussy and time consuming - but made bearable by the fact that he likes them enough to help me roll them out. I can "plate" a slice of cheesecake and dress up your common, everyday brownie into something as thrilling to the eye as the tongue - but the vast majority of time it isn't really worth the effort.
Life goes on - whether your food is gorgeous or not it gets eaten. Whether your clothes are perfect or not, you still make an appearance in the world. It's nice to look nice and dress with a bit of flair every now and then, but in my own judgy way I kind of feel sorry for the woman who gets all dolled up because it's Thursday - and golly - that means there's a special on chicken at the Zehr's deli counter! And knowing that the cute guy from the bank likes deli chickens she spends hours putting on full, Stratford theatre worthy facial make up on the chance that Mr. Perfect might notice how gorgeous she looks and say hello. That, my friends, is the living epitome of a woman who has spent so much time on Pinterest that she's lost her grip on reality altogether.
So go ahead and peruse. Jot down a recipe every now and then or learn how to draw on the perfect set of eyebrows. But don't let yourself get sucked into the unrealistic world of Pinterest pictures. Life isn't meant to be that smooth and glossy. Sometimes your frosting is just too thin to hold it all together. Sometimes rain falls on your perfect garden soiree. As the perky woman on the Swiffer commercial realistically puts it,"Ba - bamm! The outside comes in...Sunshine is over-rated! Now we can get messy!"
Peruse, but remember - life gets mucky. Take time to enjoy all the imperfection around you - the chaos, the rain, and the lump of cake and frosting that was *supposed* to look like a bunny. Pinterest perfection should be an occasional peep show to break up an otherwise mundane day - not a way of life.
Enjoy your messes. Life isn't meant to be lived flawlessly.
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