If you are female and have access to the internet, then most likely you’ve heard of Pinterest. (Sorry, males, I’m not trying to exclude you or anything, but let’s be honest — Pinterest is primarily a female domain.) Pinterest is a unique kind of social media that focuses not on the life you have but on the one you wish you had. In other words, you get to dream and arrange a kind of virtual reality—a fantasy of sorts.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining. I love scrolling through pictures of mountain landscapes, dresses, babies, puppies and recipes for Nutella brownies. What could be more enjoyable than "planning" out all the adventures I want to have?

Yet, at the same time, Pinterest presents challenges to one's emotional, spiritual and physical health that are too often overlooked. Like anything else, Pinterest has benefits and dangers, and we need to examine them both. Here are some of the pros and cons of Pinterest:

Pro: Pinterest is inspirational.

So you want to become a better cook or redefine your fashion style or plan a journey into the great outdoors? Pinterest makes inspiration easy. You can organize your ideas in image-format, create different boards and be motivated by others' experience and creativity. And you can return again and again to be inspired.

Con: Pinterest doesn't always translate to real life.

Most Pinterest users will readily admit that they rarely cook the recipes, make the crafts or do the workouts they pin on the internet. Sometimes the inspiration found on Pinterest remains merely that—an idea on the internet. While there is nothing wrong with finding pretty pictures of activities or situations or objects that will never exist in your life, a balance must be maintained. If Pinterest proves a distraction from reality instead of a tool to improve reality, then something isn't quite right.

Pro: It's fun.

I love to dream about my future—who doesn't? And what better way to imagine who you want to be and what things you want to accomplish and value than by looking at beautiful pictures?

Con: It's addicting.

You know how it goes. It's the same old story for any kind of internet site whether YouTube or Facebook or Pinterest—you go on the site, thinking you'll just look at this one thing for one minute. Half an hour later, you look up from the screen, remember your responsibilities and get frustrated at your ability to waste so much time.

So the next time you're pinning wedding dresses or decorations for an imaginary house, think about the line between a computer screen and reality. For goodness sake, cook that recipe you pinned and travel to the destination you've dreamed about. Don't just scroll through pictures of beautiful people, places and things; go out, and create real and lasting beauty in the world.