Veddy Pinteresting

People are blogging. And Twittering. And Pinteresting. Me? I'm baking. A new incarnation. I've got cookie recipes that will knock your socks off. In a good way.

But, while I bake, I ponder social networks. I spend a lot of time on the internet. Far more than I should and doing far less than needs doing. Dusting, for example. I've never been one who keeps up with the dusting. Nowadays, forget it. There is always something far more interesting happening online than brushing dust off the furniture. At least this is what I tell myself, even though I'm pretty sure I could catch up on everything pertinent to my life in about 20 minutes or less - email, Facebook, done. I don't really need to check all my favorite food blogs every single day OR wander around Pinterest oogling things that total strangers find interesting. Do I?

Years ago, a co-worker gave me this book about the Amish. The message, as I recall, was how to praise God in the simplest of ways. A well-made bread, for example, was akin to a prayer of the highest order. And, really, isn't that how it should be? The book followed one woman who journeyed into Amish country and discovered  that the Amish know "there is nothing 'out there', just the 'timeless present.'"

It makes me laugh to imagine what the Amish would think of Pinterest. And then I laugh because it's all so self-indulgent.

I think I'm in danger of losing something of real value: Myself.

Self-awareness. That's the key. Maybe there's hope for me yet, yanno, if I can avoid Pinterest. Instead of looking at cookies, I could bake some. Well-made, of course. They are, after all, a prayer of the highest order.

Hey God? You listening?