The Day the Pinning Stopped - Being Locked Out of Pinterest

Do you Pin?

Better yet, can you still get into your account on Pinterest?

Two days ago I sat down to pin a great meatball recipe and this is what greeted me. Not the usual sea of ideas and creativity. It definitely got my full attention.

Then panic set in. Were my pins gone? Would I lose all my pre-planned birthday parties, recipes and general craft inspiration? My nephew was born a few days ago and I spent hours scouring the web for fun gift ideas. Now what?

After contacting support this is the auto-reply I received.

Peter, Jul 17 15:28 (PDT):Hi Andrea,
You’re reading an auto-response designed to help users whose accounts may have been compromised. If you still need help, reply to this email to send your ticket to a member of our team.
If you've received a message that your account has been locked, it's possible your account has been compromised.
- If your account is locked, we will send you an email with instructions to secure your account. The email may require several business days as our team investigates your account. 

So, now I am in creativity limbo. I am playing the waiting game. Anyone else just hearing crickets?

Now the withdrawals are setting in. You know, those moments when I reach for the "Pin It" button and realize that nothing will happen. The times when I remember a great idea or recipe and start to type in pinterest only to realize that I have no way to get to that pin. Grrr....

I'm not the only one. Do a quick google search, look on Facebook or twitter... it is happening all over. I fear that a muse somewhere died as pinning stops for some of us. Pinterest has only been a part of my life for a few months, yet I dread going back to the bookmark system for liking idea. I was never very good at organizing those and the chance of re-finding something was next to nil.

As I go back to the stone age of Xmarks and horribly organized bookmark folders, I sincerely hope that Pinterest can resolve these compromised accounts and get us back to dreaming of the things we only wish we had enough time/money/or talent to do ourselves.

Have you been locked out? Any suggestions for coping?