what is Pinterest?

Pinterest gets what’s in your head, out into the world at the same time, puts new stuff in!

I’m pretty brand new to Pinterest and until the other night had thought of it as just a place where I can look at lots of pretty things and some stunning photography.  This is nice enough in and of itself, but having stayed up late a couple of days ago frantically pinning to one of my new boards, I think I’ve figured out what the attraction is now.

We all have heads crammed full of thoughts, memories, ideas and dreams – maybe some people have more or less than others, and I guess that the power to get into your head and enjoy it all will differ from person to person too – but sometimes, it can be difficult to communicate about it all, or share it with others.

I’m not suggesting that Pinterest can bridge this communication gap on its own – a photograph taken by somebody else can never be a pure expression of that one perfect vision you have of something, be it a memory or an idea, but it helps you flesh out aspects of your vision for others to see.  The board I stayed up late pinning to was my Fashion board, which is full of all the clothes I would wear if I were taller, slimmer and much, much richer.  It isn’t the materialistic side of fashion that I love so much (although that is the side that is probably to the fore in our currently materialistic society), it is the aesthetic – the fabrics, the colours, the textures and ideas being expressed by so many creative minds and how they use that creativity to make something beautiful so immediately accessible.

What I think I’ve done with my Fashion board is a couple of things: I’ve captured some of the images that flash though my mind when I think of fashion and got them out of my head, and I’ve also captured some new images to put into my head that I’ll use in the future to inform and inspire my own creativity.

Yup – Pinterest is cool.