We All Need Personal Connection

By Andrea Krohn 

When Jen asked me to write a blog for her Ounce of Salt Website, I thought what? No, I can’t.  I detest writing.  I’m terrible at it.

Then I started thinking, Andrea you can do this.  You have something to say. Just start small.

Asking ourselves questions

I’ve been procrastinating until the final hours to get it done.  Why?  

Why do I procrastinate about writing down my thoughts? 

• Is it because I’m uncomfortable putting my feelings into words?
• Am I afraid that people won’t like what I have to say?
• Am I afraid I’ll sound “dumb” or get it wrong?

Dare I say it’s probably a combination of all of that. 

Like so many, I’m afraid to be vulnerable. Well, it’s time that changes…. Vulnerability can be a beautiful emotion.  

Over the last few years, I’ve been trying to work on myself.  

While I have been fortunate to live a charmed life; I felt I needed more. I wasn’t sure what that looked like exactly but I knew I needed to find me. Who am I?  What matters to me? Why do I have a hard time getting started and then, why do I have a hard time seeing things through? Why don’t I practice what I preach?

Being socially distanced for weeks now has taught me a lot about myself, probably more than I’ve learned in the last 5 years!  I’ve been using this time to self-search even more.  I’ve forced myself to ask the tough questions.

What I’ve learned so far during quarantine

One thing I’ve come up with so far is this:

What Really Matters? – To me what really matters is personal connection.

Through self-reflection, I realized that I can start things and see them through.

Seven years ago, I started my company, LA Move Consultants, and it’s going well (before isolation). I love what I do. I truly enjoy helping people work through the reasons why they feel the need to hold on to things. Is it a “thing” or the connection to the person behind the “things?” Helping my friends, family, and clients organize their belongings in a space that feels like “home” instead of a cluttered house with lots of things has really been enlightening for me. 

Everyone can have a house, but you’re lucky if you have a home! Early on, I had a client that moved to Manhattan Beach from back east with her family. She called me for help unpacking and organizing her new home.  She had 3 young kids and her husband worked all the time.  She didn’t know her way around and she had downsized…big-time. After a couple of days of working with her, my unpack help became more.  I became a confidant and local resource and soon after, a friend. 

Did I know a pediatrician? What summer camps should she look into for the kids? Did I know any tutors?  Since then, I’ve helped her and her family move again into a new home. The personal connection we had with my ability to help her is what I hold so dear to me.

I started it.  I wasn’t afraid.  And I’ve found my purpose. To establish important relationships like these with my gift of organization. To me, LA Move Consultants is What Really Matters to me.

We are social creatures by nature.

As humans, we need meaningful personal connections to thrive in the world. I’m grateful in my life, I have people that I love and trust, that I can tell my deepest secrets to, who won’t judge me, and will let me cry or vent without interruption, who will laugh with me and at me, but most of all will LOVE me.  

These last few weeks have been hard for me as I have had to cancel a number of trips that would have provided me the opportunity to see my family back east. I was truly feeling the distance. I was sad that I wasn’t going to Florida and would not be able to visit my parents who are now in their 80’s. 

Then, when things got worse, and I realized it would be longer than I thought before I would be able to see them, I really started getting home sick for what “home” represents.  I needed that personal connection. I was going to make it happen, I was going to see them anyway.  Like many others who started video meet ups, I signed up for Zoom and had a virtual Sunday night dinner with my family, all 14 of us, from all across the country. It was beautiful, and I started it.  I got it done! And I got my personal connection.

My connection through organizing

I miss connecting with my clients too.  I’ll get to that in my next blog, because you know what. This isn’t as hard as I made it out to be in my head.  I just had to start.  It’s amazing what we can do once we start.  For now, here’s a quick organizing tip:

Start Small… With a drawer that doesn’t have too much sentimental meaning. Let’s get you into the mindset of being able to let things go to organize your things.