Pinterest: traps and tips and thoughts on friendships.

A cup of coffee I enjoyed with my Pinterest cookies.

Before the internet we only visited libraries with volumes of resources and treasured our great-grandmother's recipes and only shared with friends. Not Facebook friends or Twitter or Instagram followers.. friends. People you knew and trusted and when they told you that they have the best chocolate-chip recipe, you believed them. Or, maybe they brought you those cookies and you tasted them for yourself and begged for the recipe and they gladly shared it with you.

It is so easy to look over my shoulder into nostalgia-ville and long for the 'simple life.' But while some things remain the same, we can't go back in time. We have the present to live in and the future to look forward to. Our world has changed and the incredible amount of resources at our fingertips constantly grows. What is a simple girl to do? If you can't beat them, join them? Really? Honestly, I wrestle with my own personal use of internet/social media, web surfing, television watching, and android app finding. Working from home has not helped me moderate my technology intake. 

No Technology-----------------------------------------------------------------me--------------------Technology

If I were to truthfully plot my intake, it would be leaning much further into the electronically overstimulated region than I would want anyone to know. 

You want to be freaked out into a good old fashioned 'technology fast?' Google, 'technology overstimulation,' and read some of the scary research on the poverty of friendships, attention, and intelligence that we are experiencing as a culture. And predictions are that it is only going to get worse. 

At one point, I smirked at all the busy little Pinterest-ers and thought it the funniest thing that people would be pinning pictures nilly willy and not, you know, just living life. Enjoying each beautiful moment and not constantly comparing and envying what the other Pinterest-er and internet neighbor has. But I finally dipped my feet in the Pinterest pond before my wedding. And you know what? I found so many helpful and creative ideas on Pinterest. And, since that time, I have intermittently created boards that are slowly filling with interesting ideas and delicious looking and tasting recipes. But not all of them have been as tasty or easy as the recipe declared. 

Besides the traps of over-comparing and the scary over-stimulation of my mind... it is very difficult to know if 'this' is really the 'best way to grow an herb garden indoors,' or the 'top five gifts your man wants and hasn't told you,' or 'THE chocolate chip cookie.' I don't know most of these pinners or people and they certainly don't know the top five gifts that Jon wants and hasn't told me. 

Is there a place of balance? Can I use the incredible resources of the great wide web and not get trapped in the pit falls? I know that the place of balance starts with honesty and continual self-evaluation. 

The internet is a new world that our generation is pioneering and building upon. We have an incredible responsibility to take really good care of the gifts we have been given and prepare this place for the next generation. Technology (specifically: internet, social media..) should be used as a tool, resource, and healthy form of communication. Some questions I am asking myself to help me evaluate if I have lost perspective on what role this kind of technology should play in my life are:

1. Where am I at on my technology intake scale? 

No Technology----------------------------------------------------------------me---------------------Technology

2. Is this where I want to be? Why or why not? In what practical ways can I change this?

3. Does this [insert activity] generate feelings of contentment or envy and dissatisfaction?

4. Does this [insert activity] generate thoughts of judgement or self-condemnation?

5. Read reviews of recipes and DIY projects and products. Beware of the vindictive reviewer. Good reviews often including 'pros and cons' and alternative ideas. 

6. Before posting anything on social media, ask yourself if this is information that you would want a stranger to see and know about you, much less an acquaintance or co-worker. Keep your privacy settings up-dated but realize that nothing is really private on the internet.

7. Do not post pictures or information about some one else (even if you think they wouldn't mind) with out asking permission first (this is an area I am still growing in). 

8. Cultivate hobbies that do not have anything to do with technology (i.e. running, bird watching, gardening, cross stitching...).

9. Protect 'no technology zones.' Do not check Instagram on your phone while having lunch with a friend (and that includes your spouse-they are your best friend). Turn the T.V. off when you are having dinner. Let music be your background noise. Don't become legalistic about this rule but don't become too casual about it either. You never want to sacrifice friendship and quality time for mindless technology input. 

10. Have a daily quiet time. Right now, working from home in a strange city, this should be a very easy thing for me to do. Yet, somehow, it often gets pushed to later and later in the day until that point when I realize that Jon is going to be home and I forgot to pre-heat the oven for our Pinterest recipe dinner. Set aside a specific time, at least ten minutes, where you quiet your mind and heart and have things put in a right perspective. For me, this happens in reading Scripture and prayer. 

I will have you know that day time television has been playing most of the morning while I lazily put a few dishes away, pulled laundry out of the dryer to make myself feel like I was 'doing the laundry,' and some work e-mails were sent so that I could continue to feel productive. 

Finally sitting down with my Bible and a study on 1 John, I closed my eyes in a moment of quietness and felt the peace of and joy of being me, in this moment, messy me... but so very loved me. I turned off the TV (which was muted.. why did I even have it on?) and turned on the musical brilliance of Dexter Britain. I don't want to abandon the good gifts I have been given. In this season, one of the greatest gifts I have been given is time. How to be a good steward of my gifts is something I know I will continue to mature in. At least, I pray I keep maturing!

Technology over-stimulation and my own embarrassing consumption has been a continually mulled over thought for me the past few weeks. I am so grateful for the way that God loves me in the messy process and the perspective He gave me today. 

By the way, I read some really great reviews last week about a chocolate chip recipe. And, after following the recipe exactly as directed, these cookies barely made it on to the pan the dough was so delicious. My handsome, hunky husband, and our land-lady and the land-lady's husband agree with me, maybe not THE chocolate chip cookie.. but a really, really good cookie... one worth sharing, with friends. 

In case you are interested in trying it out for yourself: 

http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2012/08/06/the-chocolate-chip-cookie/