They say the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. Well, in that case: Hi, my name is Melanie, and I’m “addicted to Pinterest”:https://www.dailyillini.com/index.php/article/2011/12/pinterest_captivates_social_networking_enthusiasts.

Whew. That felt good. It’s oh-so-true, though — I’m on “that website”:http://pinterest.com/ constantly, pinning my favorite things until my head hurts and my fingers ache and the clock reads 2 a.m.

I find solace in the fact that I’m not the only addict out there. For the past few months, the “place where you can create collections of things you love” has been gaining popularity. Almost every girl I know has an account; it’s taking over cyberspace pin-by-pin.

A few days ago, I stumbled upon “a blog post”:http://www.theveryworstmissionary.com/2011/11/pin-for-good-and-not-for-evil.html about how to pin for good and not for evil. The idea struck me. On a site loaded with pictures of skinny girls, delicious desserts and beautiful clothing, it’s easy to get caught up with the things we don’t have.

Jamie Wright, author of the blog post, put it like this: “Sometimes, (Pinterest) makes me unhappy with what I’ve got — even when what I’ve got is perfectly fine.”

This is the American culture. What we have is never enough; we always want more. And when it comes to Pinterest, we are bombarded by pictures that remind us of our shortcomings.

As a self-proclaimed pinning addict, I’m convinced that there’s a way to fight against this concept. There’s gotta be a way to pin for good and not for evil.

Take the health and fitness pins, for example. There are way too many pictures on Pinterest of tiny girls with impossibly flat stomachs that must be a result of either starvation or fast metabolism. Instead of re-pinning this stuff, why not pin some motivational quotes about running?

And then there are the food pins, my personal favorite. Whenever I get on a dessert pinning binge, I pin until my stomach is literally growling, and my taste buds are crying out for sugar. We can sit in front of our laptops and look at pictures of deliciousness all we want. Or, we can whip up a batch of some delectable goodies and pass them out to friends.

My final guilty pleasure? The fashion pins. Clothes are gorgeous and magical and enchanting, especially when you’re on a college budget and can’t afford to buy anything exquisite. And so begins a self-deprecating cycle: See cute top, decide you absolutely need that top, realize you don’t have any cashola, feel bad for your poor, unstylish self.

What if, instead, we used the fashion pins to create new outfit combinations from the clothes we already have? Getting dressed is an art, and sometimes we just need a little inspiration.

And so we have a choice. We can allow Pinterest to convince us to crash diet. We can allow Pinterest to suck up all of our time while we gawk at photos of food. We can allow Pinterest to make us crave clothing that we can’t afford.

Or we can pin with different intentions: inspiring workout quotes and tips, yummy recipes and new outfit ideas.

And at that, I think I’ll take my own advice. My latest pins? 10 ways to burn 100 calories. A recipe for sugar cookie cake. And fun, new ways to wear scarves.

If that’s not pinning for good, then I don’t know what is.

_Melanie is a freshman in Media._