Holiday Competition

I am one of the most competitive people you’ll meet.  That’s not to say that I make everything a competition (they are different).  But if we are playing a board game, for example, I will be a sore loser.

But the other day, I found a competitive spirit in the weirdest place: holiday decorating.

For the past three years I have turned my dorm room into a winder wonderland.  This year everything was amped up. Blue icicle lights on the window, colored lights strung across the closets, garland around the door, white lights strung on the ceiling with snowflakes hanging, etc. (Because yes there was more.)  And I was so happy with it!  Until I saw a bow on my friends door.  A fucking bow.

I get back from Thanksgiving break and I’m walking down the hall and I see a red bow on some ones door. My first thought was “How did I not think to decorate the front of the door? Oh it’s on….” and I immediately started plotting how to make my door look cuter.

Wait what? Did I just get competitive over a fucking bow? A single red Christmas bow on some ones door. I’ve seen inside. It’s not decorated inside except for a single ornament wreath. And yet, that bow….

My love-hate relationship with Pinterest

Pinterest.
We’ve all heard of it.
We’ve all tried to evade it.
Then BOOM! One days it’s too hot to do anything else or you’re looking for the perfect DIY and you can’t access it without one.
“I’ll just create an account for those times I need it,” you say to yourself.
You could not be more wrong.
All of a sudden you have a dozen different boards and a few hundred pins and likes.
And you’re happy with it.
Until you see that other people have hundreds of followers and the next thought is, “Wait…this is a thing on Pinterest? Do I want followers? Am I lame if I don’t have followers? What’s so good about this person’s board, mine is so much better! I NEED FOLLOWERS!”
Hold on… what?
Yeah, you’ve been there. Let’s be real.

This was me. I got a pinterest to look at some nail tutorials. Then I started saving all of these cool workouts and fun drinks and then…
OMG Holiday Decorations!
Hours were spent looking at and discovering tons of Halloween and Christmas decoration ideas. Most of them are DIY! It’s like a kid in a candy shop!
Then you look at the clock… “Oh no. This is what people on Tumblr feel like.” Thank god I don’t have that too or I’d be screwed.
So you try to avoid it for a few days. There are better things you could be doing then scrolling through pinterest. But then you somehow manage to instal the app on your phone…whoops.
And no matter how hard you try the glittery and fun DIYs are calling your name and it’s beautiful… until you remember the followers issue.

Even writing this I had to pause multiple times to look through it. Why???? It’s so addicting! And while it is extremely helpful, it also reminds me what our society centers around. You aren’t the only one who sees the followers on your Pinterest, everyone can. Which kind of makes it a competition. So I don’t look. And I avoid it for days so that I can keep loving it because man…those DIYs….

So I’ve decided to make Pinterest more of a reminder of what I want to accomplish then a hobby… if that makes sense. It’s not about the followers it’s about me. I can’t afford supplies for that ridiculous Christmas pillow? Fine, I’ll save up. I want to be able to make all of those recipes when I have my own apartment? Then I should start saving for that apartment or I can’t make the recipes. Sure, I can still spend hours browsing things, but I’d much rather look at it and say “Yeah, I could do that one day!” and save it as a goal, something I can accomplish over something I can just look at on a screen.