Pinterest, Squirreling and the Problem of Time...

So for about a month I've been pinning... it's a beautiful time waster, along with tweezing my eyebrows, painting my nails, and finding hilarious commercials on youtube.

I'm a squirrel person... I like squirrelling things away, letters and cards I receive from people, knick-knacks from friends and family, scraps of fabric and yarn from projects ages ago, even my wardrobe has items from 10 years ago that I can't bear to get rid of, vowing to alter them or recycle them.

Pinning has become a new way for me to squirrel things: craft ideas, recipe ideas, house ideas, books to read (though I already use goodreads)...

One thing I'm finding about the crafting and housing things I find on pinterest is that one needs TIME to be creative and make all these awesome things that I'm squirreling away.

Tonight I tried quinoa. I'm not one for following recipes, but I did glance at the cooking instructions, approximated the 5 parts to 1 part instructions and gave it ago... totally forgot to let it sit, ending with more like quinoa soup (which wasn't too bad since I boiled it in broth).

I made a spinach salad to go with it... my favorite quick and healthy dinner being couscous salad. I've heard amazing things about quinoa so I wanted to give it a go... but, one thing I don't have tons of time for is making dinner after a long day.

Couscous takes about 10-15 minutes to make--about the time it takes me to chop fresh veggies and heat up some sort of protein, meat or beans of some kind. Quinoa takes about 40 mins total, including the time it takes to set. So... in my mind, even though Quinoa is probably slightly healthier (since it's a super-food, whatever that means), I prefer couscous for my timetable... Quinoa for special occasions :)

Sometimes I wonder, do we make ourselves SO busy by insisting on doing whatever fad or heath craze or food craze is out there? If I insisted on making quinoa since it's apparently so good for me, I'd be paying more and working longer in the kitchen for something I could get for much less time.

Still, in our busy-ness, do we skim over things and not see the opportunities to reduce, reuse, recycle, get crafty, or be clever with how we organize our time and our lives? I've been carrying around a craft box for about 10 years and pinterest has shown me some amazing designs I'm hankering to try... things I probably wouldn't come up with because I don't really have the time to be creative. (Now to make the time to get crafty ;))

Some people who I've spoken to have said creativity can arise out of crisis. When we're under pressure, our brains perform and we can come up with some brilliant ideas. On the other hand, when we have leisure time to step back and look at things, we can rethink things and see things in a new light. It seems that only in the averagely-paced life that our minds shut down and creativity is stifled (at least in me...)

I'm undecided as to whether or not I'm a creature of habit. I love trying new things but also know what I like and can get the same thing at restaurants (usually because I WANT it, not because I'm scared to try something new)...

So the moral, or message, or point, I guess, is that Pinterest makes me feel guilty AND inspired. Guilty because who are these crafty, creative people coming up with all this cool stuff? I think how stupid I must be not to see the potential in all of these things... still, I'm loving it and totally inspired that if I set aside the time, I could quite easily cook, bake, and craft some awesome gifts and things for the home.

Ok... time to craft B)