In Defense of Contentment

Hey Jen,
I had a question for ya.  What do you think of Pinterest?  I've noticed that you're not joining and I wondered why not.
--An Avid Pinner

OK, good question.  I'm glad you asked.

First off, I'll tell you that Pinterest is very cool.  Every time someone has introduced me to it and I've browsed it for a few minutes I absolutely Loved it.  Like tiramisu.
And good coffee.  I mean, geez, I'm an artist trapped in the doldrums of momminess.  My house is very normal and my clothes are normal and pretty much everything is normal.  When I visit Pinterest, I'm like a kid in a candy store!  Who wouldn't want to escape by drifting around in so many beautiful and inspiring corridors? 

 But, just because I love tiramisu, I don't keep a stash of it in my house and eat it every day.  There's a reason for that.

I've heard lots of young pinterest fans lately bemoan the fact that it's so stinkin' addicting. 

Does anyone think that's a problem?  And what exactly is addicting about it?

OK, ask yourself this question...
How would you feel if your man had a scrapbook full of photos that he carefully collected and frequently reviewed and they were placed under categories like, "Dream Woman,"  "Delicious Food,"  or "Best Date Ever?"  And what if absolutely NONE of the photos contained you.  Or your meals.  Or YOU???  OK, what if there was you and twenty-eight OTHER women??

Would you think he was happy?  What about content?  Would you feel confident that he was satisfied with you?  I doubt it.

That's just a made-up scenario because I don't know of any guys who pin.  But I do know guys who look at "ideal women" and dream.  And I know how bad that hurts the real women in their lives.

Do you think that your own husband ever feels even slightly that same hurt when you have categories full of beautiful decorating and clothes you wish you could afford?  But you can't and you probably never will.  And even if he says he doesn't mind and he even enjoys looking at it with you, what is happening in your own heart?  Are you becoming more thankful and satisfied with your life or more discontent?  How do you see your own life after spending time longing over the ideal worlds presented in perfectly photo-shopped pictures?  What do you think God thinks of Pinterest?

It's worth asking these questions.  Especially now, because it is so dang addicting.  And it's going to be a bazillion times harder to quit once you've built up a whole fantasy world and you're so attached to your pins.  Almost like they belong to you.

Are you getting the picture here?  I'm not saying that Pinterest is evil.  But I'm also not saying that it's not.  It's all about what you do with it.

Like tiramisu.

Remember...  All things are permissible, but not everything is profitable.

  How is it affecting you?  You know how important it is to guard your heart.... It is the wellspring of life.  That means that if something is gnawing away at your joy and contentment, no matter how popular and innocent it looks, it's an enemy of your heart.  It's gonna be a whole lot easier on you if you stop and evaluate this whole thing now, while it's still pretty new in the cyber world. 

On a side note... There's a lot of funky stuff going on out there.  I hate to be a downer, but did you know that once a picture has been pinned, you absolutely can't remove it?  And it no longer belongs to you.  Maybe I'm just old-fashioned, but I think that's just plain weird.  Pinterest doesn't care about you.  It is a business and they are appealing to your flesh to make a profit.  That's the bottom line.  Just like the old cigarette commercials.  And it's not worth the risk just to get a bunch more views and bump your cyber ego.

I think this verse from Ecclesiastes perfectly sums up why I feel so strongly about this topic:

Better what the eye sees than the roving of the appetite. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

 Look around and see what you already have.  It is better than what you wish you had.  You'll never get everything you wish you had, and wishing for it will ruin what you actually have.  That's my paraphrase.


 Write this verse from the New Living Translation out on a note card and tape it to your monitor.  It will help you decide what to spend your time doing:


Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don't have. Just dreaming about nice things is meaningless--like chasing the wind.

Girls, I hope you know how much I care about you.  Especially you mommies out there.  It's a rough road.  There's rarely anything glamorous that ever happens to us in our normal lives.  The money is tight all around and there's rarely enough left over to buy something really special or beautiful.  At least not something expensive and beautiful.  The best thing that you can do to make yourself and your home more beautiful is focus on your heart.  It truly is the wellspring of life.  It is where contentment comes from.  And true contentment makes all the difference.

True contentment lets you SEE what you already have that is special and beautiful.

They are all around you... in your very normal life.