Pinterest. My new thing.

So, Pinterest is my new thing...I know, I know, I've been living under a rock, but I just wasn't all that excited about jumping on another bandwagon (I'm not normally a bandwagon jumper).  Anyway, a Facebook friend sent me an invitation a few days ago, and I am amazed at how much I love it.  I thought it was just another social media site, but it's so much more than that...It's part "Bucket List", part "to-do-list" and part "gratitude journal".  I am by nature a list maker.  A planner.  A sticky note queen! But I have never started a gratitude journal (that one was still on my to-do list).  So when I started playing around with Pinterest, I created a couple of boards (like many of my friends had) called My Favorite Things and Favorite Places and Spaces.  I immediately added Ms. Mulligan's of course to favorite places and Disney World too.  But after that, I actually looked at my husband Joe (who was rolling his eyes at what he thought was another cyber-waste-of-time) and asked "What would you say is my favorite restaurant?" and "What are some other things I like?" I mean, should it really be this difficult to come up with my favorite things?  It was like at Thanksgiving when you go around the table and everyone has to say what they are thankful for...Family, Friends, Food, Home, God.  Those are the easy ones, but beyond  that, I really had to think.  I consulted my actual paper copy of my bucket list and found my car - the convertible I wanted to own before I died, and bought a year ago.  I also was reminded that I want to one day run a marathon, so I added my running shoes, but that was all the help I got from my bucket list.  Then an unexpected (and amazing) thing happened.  Over the next couple of days, I encountered many of "My Favorite Things" and actually took notice of them. Things like the beautiful, colorful sunsets in the evening that I absolutely love, but had never thought about in terms of favorite things.  I recalled the little things that make me smile, that make me happy, that make me, me.  I found myself saying, "I need to pin that" when I walked by my flower bed and "remembered" that I LOVE palm trees,  when I looked through recent Mother's Day pictures of my family at the zoo, and how much I love feeding the giraffes - one of my favorite animals.
I found that paying homage to "My Favorite Things" is extremely cathartic.  And sharing "My Favorite Things" is fun too.  Sometimes a friend repins a favorite of mine, and sometimes, like in the case of my Florida Gator pin, I can imagine my Georgia Bulldog friends gagging and boo-ing at the sight of it.  Fun huh?  Everyone should have a Pinterest Favorite Things Board.  I look at mine frequently and it always makes me smile.  I plan to continue noticing and acknowledging favorite things every day.  And this year at Thanksgiving, I won't have any problems when it's my turn!

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